Restoration Thunderbolts: Divided Thunder
by Impurest Cheese
Summary: A new team of Thunderbolts is formed from a team of mostly willing villains to help tackle the threats that SHIELD faces. But with a massive power vacuum left by Osborne's absence will this team of neophyte heros live up to their new employers standards.
1. Prolouge: Personal Gain

Herman Schultz walked calmly down Broadway, he had a mission, one of upmost importance, at-least to him. He had come equipped for the job, and with the on-going reconstruction of the city nobody, not Spiderman, Director Gold or the NYPD would stop him. Eyeing up the bank he put his game face on and walked to the entrance where one of the ATMs was located. Rolling back his sleeves to reveal the gauntlets underneath the shirt he was wearing he struck. The ATM beeped a message and Schultz looked down and sighed.

"Card declined, what the fuck." he swore, "Fine I'll just do this inside." he said pressing the cancel button on the ATMs touch screen before putting his card in the storage compartment of his Vibro-Shock Gauntlets, the power light blinking that the electro-magnetic safeties were online. As he entered the bank, Schultz breathed a sigh of relief there was no queue and an available teller looking fairly board at the lack of activity.

"Morning." Schultz told her as he took his card out, "Listen I want to get some money out of my account but your ATM is playing up or something. The woman took the card and stared at him shaking as she leaned down under the table.

"Please don't hurt me." she wept, "How much do you want?" she asked nervously as she fumbled for something under the desk.

"I want fifty dollars, it's my nephew's 15th birthday coming up and hey." Schultz yelled, "I'm not here to rob you I want to withdraw some money from my own account, totally legal and all that."

"Get out of here." the teller yelled as she pulled out a hand-gun from under the table and waved it nervously in Schultz's face.

"Oh come on, I'm not even wearing the costume and your discriminating against me. Hell I helped saved the city last week, doesn't that justify at least one legal withdrawal without someone pointing a gun at me." Schultz asked.

"Please just leave and don't hurt me." the teller whimpered as tears run down her cheek. Schultz sighed and took the credit card back before leaving. He had to admit robbing banks seemed a lot easier then this law abiding citizen life. He was so busy huffing that he almost missed the news-broadcast on one of the TVs in the electronic shop window next to the bank.

"And the kidnappers have barricaded themselves in the Sky Temple Night-Club with a number of millionaires setting out a regeneration plan for the city. No ransom has yet to be made but the kidnappers have said that if any security forces try and storm the place that they will kill the hostages." the reporter announced, "SHIELD is yet to appear on the scene as they deal with an outbreak of what the CDC is calling Amber Wood Fever, a phenomenon partially responsible for the massive siege by super-villains last week. We will bring you more updates as they happen on both these events." the journalist said before the chubby shop owner changed the channel open.

"Millionaires huh." Schultz said, "Maybe I can get a reward for saving these cash cows. You know I did feel something was missing when I was a villain and when I was Gold's performing monkey. Maybe this is what I need a fresh start as the Shocker, vigilante and all round hero." he said, "Ah skip the hero part may as well get to this club before anyone else, if memory serves there is a way in through the basement, stupid hostage takers probably won't have that covered." he sneered.

Ten minutes later Herman Schultz clad in his Shocker costume was covertly slipping into a sewer tunnel a block away from the Sky Temple Club. The going was good and by the sound of it Melissa and her SHIELD agents were pinned down by a unit of cops who had reverted to their primal natures thanks to prolonged exposure to Carrion. Even though the demon had been banished pockets of infected people still roamed the city, attacking the innocent civilians and looting stores. Shocker had even come across some himself before Melissa had given him the choice of staying with SHIELD or having a clean slate as a civilian. Only Constrictor, Diamondback and Abner Jenkins had chosen the former, the other Thunderbolts had walked away and were living mostly law abiding lives outside the city.

Shocker suddenly head something move behind him and turned to see an armoured figure running along the tunnel behind him. Setting his gauntlets to Level 3 he fired a blast and stunned the runner for a few seconds before it opened fire a burst of flame igniting the tunnel walls with a sticky clinging fire. Shocker dived into a particularly deep pool of stagnant water before surfacing tackling the attacker before prising off her helmet to see a familiar face.

"Scorcher what the fuck?" he swore.

"Oh God you not going to stop me getting to Senator Nicholls. I'm going to teach him that an anti-mutant stance is no longer accepted in politics these days." Scorcher hissed firing a jet of flame up at him causing Shocker to roll off as both villains got to their feet.

"I'm not here for some Senator, I'm here to rescue the hostages and maybe get a reward." Shocker told her, "By all means once I'm done have your way with the good Senator I don't care." Shocker reassured her, "By the way did it just get colder in here?" he asked.

"Yeah the temperature just dropped." Scorcher confirmed, "Something cold is down that tunnel." she added. Together the two former Thunderbolts crept down to the tunnel mouth to see three figures silhouetted against two massive metal blast doors. Two of them stood sentinel while the third member froze the door before giving the ice covered portal a knock before giving the larger of the two a thumbs up.

"Who are these guys and what are they up to?" Scorcher asked, "Security Team, SHIELD Agents or the Hostage Takers?" she added.

"Neither, the big guy is Bison and the man with the ice literally coming out of his finger tips is Blizzard. The woman is Black Mamba, my guess there here to turn over the place while SHIELD is distracted. I suppose if you gather a whole pack of millionaires in one place then you have to expect the criminal element to try something."

"You know we can hear you." Black Mamba said her voice echoing, "The acoustics in this place will do that." Wearily Shocker and Scorcher, their cover now blown slid down to the place where the other three villains were standing.

"So what the hell are you after?" Shocker asked defensively.

"We are the B Battalion." Black Mamba said proudly, "New York's newest Heros."

"No we're not." Blizzard moaned, "You came into the bar I was in and offered to pay off my tab if I helped you."

"Shush, we are going to rescue these people and finally catch Ms. Mighty On High's eye, when she sees us take these guys out then Melissa will have to offer us a place on her Avenger Team or Thunderbolts or whatever she calls it." Black Mamba told them, "You guys can join, you could be Blaster and Burner, it goes with the whole B theme."

"Is she high?" Shocker asked.

"Possibly," Bison answered as he gave the door a quick thump causing the frozen metal to collapse inwards, "I thought we were here to get enough money to reverse my condition. Guess I was wrong."

"Does any of this seem fishy?" Blizzard said as the thugs stepped inside, each one eyeing the others, "We all conveniently show up to a building owned by Stark Industries, where millionaires are being held hostage while SHIELD is unable to respond."

"What you think this is a trap?" Shocker asked, "Because I did the heroics thing once and none of the traps we stumbled into felt like this. Sure creepy frozen temples with giant snakes and Nazi Zombies inside, or a monster infested warehouse, hell even that business in the well they were all traps and they didn't feel as normal as this."

"I don't know, do we even have an idea on who's holding these guys hostage?" Scorcher asked as the team of villains reached a staircase.

"Okay guys." Black Mamba addressed the rag tag team, "If we help each other out, we can get this over and done with quickly." Advancing one at a time the villains hit the stairs heading to the Sky Temple Club on the fifteenth floor of the building. Creeping up to a door Mamba looked in to see the hostages surrounded by thugs with red hand-prints pasted over their chest plates. "Quintos Rohas Thugs, six of them armed with shotguns and machine pistols. All normal humans no sign of meta combatants."

"Let me guess there keeping a tight bead of the prisoners." Shocker said pushing her out the way, "Wait a second I remember seeing one of these guys in clean up week when Scorcher and I were working for SHIELD. The one by the windows with the two guns is a thug called the Pistolarro. We took him down early on, as far as I know he should be in Rykers Island."

"That guys was tough." Scorcher added, "I remember bringing him and his skanky girlfriend in. They did not go quietly."

"Alright the plan is this," Mamba told the others, "I'm going to lure one of the guards over and cloak us, he'll let us in and then we'll split up and take these guys from behind, free the hostages and be heros. People will look up to the B Battalion as their saviours."

"Two things," Shocker hissed, "Number one we're not called the B Battalion and number two, who put you in charge."

"I did." Mamba replied, "Do you have a better plan?" she asked.

"No I just think that since we are all separate in this that we should forget having a leader in this." Shocker replied as Mamba, apparently not listing stood up against the door and locked eyes with one of the hostage takers. "What are you doing?" Shocker hissed, "That's going to get the hostages killed." he added as he peered in to see the hostage takers just stand there. Cautiously he opened the door and sunk his fist into the Pistolarro, only to have the Mexican Bandit waver. "Holograms, this is all a hoax."

"But the hostages are okay." Blizzard announced as he removed the gag off one of the hostages who spluttered and shook from the coldness of his rescuers hands. "What is this buddy a joke?" he asked.

"No Sir." the man said as the other villains released the hostages, "We were take captive by him." he said pointing at a shadow that emerged from behind the bar. With burning red eyes and a massive fin sticking out of his head, Tiger Shark emerged grinding his teeth together.

"Well, well, well." he said sounding like an old fashioned detective, "Looks like my boys are going to have some fun after all."

"What's the game Todd?" Shocker asked, "What's with the holograms and the deception," he added as thugs armed with crow-bars and pistols emerged from the rooms off to the side.

"You'll never find out." Tiger Shark growled as he snapped his fingers signalling his men to attack. The thugs ran in and the villains retaliated as the hostages ran down the stair-well that the 'B Battalion' had ascended. Quickly and efficiently the team took out the thugs leaving Tiger Shark all by his lonesome, the rest of the hostage takers unconscious and broken. Stepping forward Scorcher sent a burst of flame around Tiger Shark causing him to choke and splutter before falling to the floor.

"Well that was easy." Bison stated, "It's like he wasn't even trying." he announced.

"He wasn't." Shocker said walking over to Tiger Shark, "Now what's going on Todd? Are you working for someone, or is this how you spend your free time now?"

"He the boss is going to be happy with this result." Tiger Shark replied, "She wondered who would come, she's looking for super powers to join her gang." he added, "I'm just the welcome wagon." he confirmed as the lift doors shattered and the armoured form of Abner Jenkins in his MACH V Armor was thrown into the room. Standing in the lift was a form that both Shocker and Scorcher knew only too well. Clad in leather, blue lines of woad glowing, her eyes a deep Amber and horns sprouting from her head was the Melissa Joan Gold or as the media called her Carrion.

* * *

><p>Another Preview of an upcoming fan fiction. Again comment and critic at leisure.<p>

Impurest Cheese


	2. Played for Fools

Shocker ducked behind an upturned oak table as a hail of sonic daggers flew through the air, mostly missing the 'B Battalion' save for a few darts sticking in Bison's shoulder, the massive man grunting more in rage then pain before charging Carrion as she unleashed a second wave of acoustic projectiles.

"Why is it whenever you go on vacation," Shocker yelled at Scorcher who along with Blizzard was located behind a pair of chipped artistic columns, "that the souvenir's you buy always seem to bring back bad memories?"

"Yeah a T-Shirt, a novelty pen or in this case a demonic virus intent on taking over the world." Scorcher replied as Bison went flying backwards slamming into a wall not strong enough to stop his bulk crashing through.

"Also what is it with that thing and Songbird?" Shocker asked, "Also is it wrong that I find her the most attractive woman in the room."

"Very wrong." Black Mamba replied as she slid behind a leaking tropical fish tank, "She's the villainous equivalent of Nick Fury and the HIV virus rolled into one." she added throwing a set of razor tipped caltrops at Carrion, the spiked balls bouncing off a hastily summoned sonic shield. As the shield dropped Shocker fired a vibro-shock blast at the villain's back in the hopes that she would be caught off guard, his gambit failed as Carrion absorbed the blast before shaping it into a six foot disc that she threw at the columns, sending Scorcher and Blizzard scattering.

"You want a hand boss?" Tiger Shark asked as he got to his feet, rubbing his arm to removed the blackened piece of skin.

"Foolish aberration of nature." Carrion snapped as Blizzard froze a shield to his arm and advanced crouched towards her with Scorcher close behind firing bolts of fire from her pistol sized flamethrower. "I need no help from mortals." she continued picking up Tiger Shark by the throat and throwing him towards the advancing opposition. Quickly Blizzard froze a wall of ice from ceiling to floor as the shark like villain smashed into him, wrapping Assalis in a cocoon of ice and separating his team mates from Carrion.

"We need a new plan." Shocker yelled, "Any ideas Mamba?" he asked.

"Me?" she replied shocked, "You were the one in charge." she added.

"Yeah but all the ideas have been yours so far." Shocker told her as Carrion walked up to the ice barrier, her eyes gleaming through the frozen wall.

"Well if we could immobilize her then maybe we can keep her down long enough for Melissa to regain control." Mamba suggested, "If Scorcher and Bison run interference then the rest of us can pool our abilities and hit her with Ice and Sound along with my dark-force abilities to keep her pinned."

"And how do you suggest distracting her?" Bison snorted, "She threw me through a wall last time I charged her." Black Mamba's witty retort was drowned out as the ice cracked and they were all slammed into the back wall by Carrion's sonic scream, chunks of ice flying across the room. Carrion quickly followed up launching herself at the group a sonic blade clutched in her hands as Scorcher ignited her own blade, the tip wreathed in flames, the swords meeting in a blast of fire and pressure sending a burning shockwave around the room, windows shattering and the furniture disintegrating as the wave overtook them.

Groaning in pain Blizzard shakily got to his feet, the area around him burnt as he nudged against the wall but it was a cold burn, checking his coolant meter for his Freon back he saw that it had been depleted, suggesting that he had subconsciously created a shield between him and the blast. Looking around the room he saw Carrion floating on a pink disc in the middle of the room, a wall of sound between her and the last whips of smoke. Across from him Scorcher moaned as she got to her feet and steadied herself against the wall wheezing and groaning.

"Are the other's okay?" Blizzard wheezed, the oxygen largely burnt by Carrion and Scorchers Thermobaric strikes.

"Can't tell, fuel tank is leaking." Scorcher moaned removing the backpack mounted fuel tank, even with the windows shattered the amount of air flowing into the room was low. Seconds later the sprinklers activated showering the room with water, streams gushing over the side of the building. Carrion advanced her body still seemingly aflame, the markings on her body glowing furiously. With a vicious smile she summoned sonic razors along her arms and legs slashing through the remains of the oak table that had previously been used as cover before flicking the blade at Scorcher who dodged rolling through the water to where Bison lay his hand clenching and unclenching uncontrollably.

"And now you and your insolence will be punished." Carrion hissed as she advanced on Blizzard standing alone defiantly staring her down as he attempted to unclip a partially melted Freon Grenade attached to his belt. Looking around he saw Shocker covertly set his gauntlet to high before nodding that he had seen the sign. "Any last words mortal." she announced.

"I wish I had a bigger Freon Pack." Blizzard said jokingly as a Shocker fired a blast of energy the knocked Carrion out through the window, the demonic villainess hanging onto the edge with razor sharp talons. Shocker picked himself up before finding Black Mamba back against one of the few remaining columns breathing deeply, the sprinklers combined with the broken windows had begun to aerate the room.

"B Battalion for the win." she gasped running her fingers through her hair.

"Something like that." Shocker replied, "Everyone okay and not feeling too tingly?" he asked

"We're good." Bison groaned stretching before pulling himself up, "What about Tiger Shark, did he make it?" he asked. Black Mamba trotted out scanning the room, she shook her head before squinting. "I can't see him." she stated as a pink tendril looped round her foot as Carrion let go of the ledge plummeting down. With a sharp tug Mamba slipped and was pulled along the floor.

"Jesus somebody grab her." Bison yelled as Mamba got hold of the same ledge that Carrion had been holding on to. Looking down she saw Carrion swarming up the sonic whip, her eyes burning hotter then ever as she got closer to her prey. Suddenly Mamba felt a massive fist clamped round her arm and she was pulled up. Stealing a glance at her rescuer she saw the person she least expected to save her or anybody in the attacking group. Wheezing and hissing Tiger Shark lifted her clear of the ledge, his skin blackened and burnt, as water ran down his flanks.

"Why are you helping us, you're the bad guy?" Scorcher asked as the other's ran over to help Mamba to her feet and possibly fend off a third attack from Tiger Shark.

"Seemed like the right thing to do." Tiger Shark grunted as Carrion crept over the lip of the windowsill. "What do you think boss?" he asked her.

"The right thing." she snarled as she summoned a lance of sonic energy. The villains all tensed up until Mamba raised her hands. "That's not Melissa." she announced, "I know because when you grabbed me I found the name of the man you love. Who's Erik?" she asked.

"Don't tell me we've been punked." Shocker snarled walking over to the unconscious MACH V tapping on his armoured shell. "Okay Abe fun's over, now I'm pissed off and want answers." Abe's armor sprung to life and the former Thunderbolt got to his feet before removing his helmet revealing a satisfied smile across his face.

"Sorry guys but we needed to know how you all operate." he announced, "Melissa was meant to be playing Carrion but she was called away at the last moment so Dallas filled in." he explained as Dallas slipped the amber contacts out of her eyes. "There was no hostages, they were all SHIELD agents."

"But Tiger Shark and his goons?" Bison asked, "They don't work for SHIELD do they?"

"The goons are SHIELD agents." Dallas explained removing the sonic harness from her chest as well as the white and pink wig she wore. "And believe it or not Mr. Assalis volunteered to be your punching bag."

"Which supports my theory that we're all crazy." Scorcher mumbled.

"So if everything was fake then why was it reported on the news?" Black Mamba asked, "Surely that was real."

"In a way, several SHIELD agents made sure you saw the broadcast, by the way Shocker, Rachel informs me that you showed remarkable control at the bank earlier. Melissa was impressed that you didn't revert to your old ways." Abe told them.

"Diamondback was the teller wasn't she." Shocker stated, "I knew she looked familiar."

"Well that's enough with the explanation." Dallas announced, "Melissa has us on a schedule." she told Abe.

"What schedule?" Blizzard asked.

"We need a team." Abe explained, "For one mission a hostage rescue not too dissimilar to the simulation you just went through. We need a group of Thunderbolts and we were hoping that you guys would volunteer to help SHIELD out with a problem."

"One Mission." Shocker stated, "That's it."

"Unless you like being hero's and want to stay on." Abe told him, "Either way are you in or out?" he asked.

"Yeah but only for one mission." Shocker said poking Abe's chest plate with his finger.

"Do we get paid?" Bison asked, "Because I don't work for free."

"As we speak SHIELD Science teams are working on a holographic shroud as well as an actual cure for your mutation." Dallas told him, "Both should be sufficient enough payment for you." she added shooting him a withering stare.

"How about you Don, for old times sakes." Abe pleaded looking at Blizzard.

"I get a new Freon Pack and I'll stay as long as you want." Blizzard announced before adding, "That and some cheap beer."

"Done." Abe replied, "Mamba how about you. Rachel and Frank told us that you were interested in becoming a hero."

"She hasn't stopped going on about it." Scorcher moaned, "And she will say yes, so will I since I don't really want to be stuck on clean up." she grunted.

"You know my answer." Tiger Shark told Abe, "I stay on the team until this mission is done, that was our agreement."

"I remember." Abe replied, "Still waiting for an answer Tanya." he asked Black Mamba. Tanya just nodded before swan-diving off the edge causing the Thunderbolts and their handlers to run to the edge only to find her perched on a section of sky.

"Quinn Jet or Zeus?" she asked, "Doesn't matter I'm driving." she told the others as they dropped onto the cloaked ship's roof. Abe smiled the Quinn Jet while not brand new had been cleaned and upgraded by him and Fixer. Melissa had insisted on this particular jet being in service to the Thunderbolts after they had recovered it from a storage facility in Washington complete with a large amount of gear from the Thunderbolts Guerrilla Action during Osborne's dark reign. Dropping in after the team he saw that the ad-hoc members had all taken up positions with Mamba reclining in the pilot's chair while the others were crowded round the portable holo-projector.

"Quinn Jet fly to location 008." Abe commanded as the jet powered up and speed away from the Sky Temple Nightclub. "Sorry Tanya but the jet will fly on auto-pilot to an abandoned AIM facility at Marblehead, just up the coast."

"New England, I guess we're not going up for the apples." Shocker joked, "So Abe what's going on up there that's so important."

"How many of you know about Project Brigade?" Dallas asked bringing up a hologram of Marblehead point.

"Wasn't he that crazy robot that blew up in Broxton during the Siege of Asgard Part Deux." Tanya informed them as she swivelled around on the pilot's chair.

"Close he was a Zombie Cyborg which had adaptive genetic profiling allowing him to steal powers from others." Dallas announced bringing up footage of Brigade from HAMMER's unsuccessful second assault on Asgard. "It seems that shortly before the second siege a political insurrection was planned to support the Stark uprising."

"Ahh Nostalgia." Shocker sighed, "Creepy Basements, Fregata Interceptors and Middle Earth Melissa trying to eat us."

"Well it appears that Brigade was one of ten finished units." Abe announced, "Osborne decided to quell the political uprising by taking the children of the senators and governors who apposed him and putting them under guard in the base we are travelling too. Our job is to rescue the children and dismantle the entire Brigade inside so that they are never used again. The later we will have to do by hand since they will only shut down to a voice code from Norman Osborne, who is currently missing."

"From what I heard Osborne got frozen so we may as well all spit on his headstone." Tiger Shark grunted.

"Until we have a body we can't be sure." Abe reprimanded, "We packed a lot of equipment in case things got damaged in the training exercise so Donnie you and Juliana should be back to full strength when we go in. Team One led by me, will consist of Tiger Shark, Mamba and Blizzard will covertly infiltrate through the facilities water gate. Team Two led by Dallas will consist of Scorcher, Bison and Shocker will wait for our signal before infiltrating in via the roof. Remember we want all hostages extracted before we go overboard with shutting down Brigade if we have the chance." he finished as the holographic projector shifted to show the battle plan. "Everyone get ready because it's only five minutes to location." he ordered, "Let's do this right no mess ups or we could easily loose the hostages."

"Wouldn't want the spoilt rich kids to get hurt now would we." Scorcher mumbled.

"Scorcher shut your mouth." Dallas ordered, "If you don't have anything useful to say then don't."

"So we have nine bad guys, how many kids do we have to rescue?" Tiger Shark asked

"Fifteen." Abe announced, "We should be in range for thermal tracking, if we can pick up the children's heat signatures it will make the siege a lot easier." he added flicking a switch sending the battle plan spiralling as red dot's appeared. "There they are." Abe announced as fifteen dot's emerged in the centre of the facility, while nine pale purple one's stalked through the facilitates corridors. "And those are the Brigades." he added as the Quinn Jet stopped and lowered the back door. "Team One come with me." he ordered as he leapt off the back followed by Black Mamba and Tiger Shark. Blizzard stopped and removed a large Freon pack and breathing apparatus and followed them before disappearing under the wave's with the others.

"Okay Comms with team A will be down for a while." Dallas announced as she slipped into the pilot's seat and activating the cloaking array. "Somebody power down the projector." she ordered. Shocker leaned over before something caught his eye, barley visible to his vision were light almost transparent blue dots moving around in groups of five to eight. Scorcher walked past and turned off the button before walking off and loading up on flash-bang grenades. Shocker shook his head it was probably just distortion on the projector nothing to be too worried about, SHIELD probably takes care of it's assets better then HAMMER, he told himself unconvincingly as he removed his gauntlet's safeties and got ready for the signal to start the attack.


	3. AIMed and Ready

Abe took another step along the sea-bed, envious about Tiger Shark's fluidity as he moved under the water. Not that he had anything to complain about, his armor systems were working well and the covert team of four were making good time, partially due to their point man scaring all the wildlife out of the area and making the mile and a half walk less distracting, and also because the MACH VI Armor, although not overly designed for sub-surface exploration had picked out the route which would be easiest for Abe and Blizzard to walk along to the facility. No it wasn't the trek across the ocean floor that made Abe nervous, it was what happened once the mission was complete, while all the Thunderbolts had nanites in their blood system, a remnant from the Stark and Osborne administrations, it was unclear how well they worked after a couple of years.

"Hold up." he told the others as his sonar pinged a contact at three o'clock at 100m and at least 30m above his head. Almost instantly Tiger Shark and Black Mamba dropped to the sea bed and Blizzard created a jagged ice shield over them as the silhouette of a medium sized vessel powered across the ocean surface. Quickly the boat disappeared and Abe had his armor plot a course for the ship as the other three cut the ice to allow their escape. "That ship came from the Marblehead AIM Facility."

"That's not good." Blizzard stated, "Unless the guards are leaving." he added

"Want me to surface and get a look on the craft?" Tiger Shark asked.

"Be quick and be quiet." Abe ordered. Seconds later Tiger Shark powered himself up to the surface sticking his eyes and dorsal fin out of the water before slipping back under a fierce grin on his face. "Niloctus Class Fast Patrol Ship, somebody is using that facility and they are using Sharzadi Technology."

"We can't risk comms even if they did work?" Abe told the others, "Keep on towards the Water Gate, hopefully Vantage and Team B will notice the launch and get the idea." he added, "Tiger Shark get back on point, it's possible that there are enemy contacts in the water. Anything but Brigade is to be stunned not killed if we can help it, remember that or there will be trouble.

The Quinn Jet flew stealthfully to the roof of the facility, Shocker admitted that it was very different to the missions he had done for Osborne. That had been all shock and awe for the sake of making an entrance, this sneaking around style was more familiar, almost like when he used to crack safes prior to inventing his gauntlets. "Dallas there's something I need to ask?" he told Vantage as she sat in the pilot's chair.

"It's Vantage out in the field." she snapped before asking in the same tone, "What is it?"

"I think this mission has a flaw, we know about the hostages and the guards but did anyone consider that this might be a trap." Shocker announced, "For a brief second I swore I saw more contacts then we expected, all faint and barley visible but they were there." Vantage turned and stared before looking back out the cockpit, she thought about what Shocker was saying, it made sense especially since the last mission he had been on had ended in the team leader's betrayal leaving him and the others too, if the reports could be believed, a giant snake. On the instrument board the area radar beeped a warning that another aircraft was in a three mile radius at the same height.

"You might be right, look at this." she announced activating the Quinn Jet's 3D radar imaging system. "One A.I.M Gunship lifting off from one of the facilities annex buildings."

"So what your saying is that AIM have moved back into the building." Bison stated as he lumbered up behind them before resting his arms on the back of Vantage's chair. "Do you think Abe and his guys know that we have company."

"No, they should be at the water gate but if you are right and AIM are here then any communications will be intercepted." Dallas informed them, "Every one get ready for a quick exit, we may find ourselves needing to change tactics on the fly." she announced bringing the Quinn Jet to a stop over the main building, the occupant's cautiously scanning the tower below them for hostiles.

Abe and his underwater assault team reached the water gate, a metal pair of doors closed over a stone arch that the facility was built above. While most AIM buildings were squat ugly and industrialized this building could pass for being mildly aesthetic if one overlooked the numerous annex's and covered walkways that dotted its surface like a series of boils across human flesh marring its beauty.

"Here goes." Abe whispered firing up the wrist mounted marine cutting torch, the spark glowing. "Mamba cover the torches glow." he ordered. Tanya nodded and created a field of dark energy over Abe and the door as MACH VI sliced a five foot circular hole in the bottom of the door before extinguishing the flare and squeezing through, the others following him, with Blizzard moving through last and freezing the hole with an icy plug to prevent a change in water levels. Activating the armour's sensors Abe quickly identified the threats in the room, there were four security agents on the dock and the fifteen strong crew of a second Niloctus Patrol Boat that was anchored to a ring on the sea floor.

"Tiger Shark." Abe said, "Which tide are we on at the moment?"

"Outgoing Spring Tide." Tiger Shark answered, "What are you planning?"

"Gate controls are up in that office, if the doors open and the patrol boat just happened to been missing its anchor it would make our job a lot easier, maybe even draw some additional troops away." Abe explained letting the other's catch up with the plan.

"So you want me to sneak up to the control room and take out the staff and open the gates." Mamba announced, "You're dealing with the boat's anchor point and the other two are doing what exactly?" she asked.

"Tiger Shark will be waiting for me to push the boat out while Blizzard will be backing you up." Abe explained, "Now get moving." he hissed pointing to a set of rusted iron steps nailed to the wall to form a crude ladder. Mamba sighed and swam off mumbling under her breath that a group such as AIM should have had a more high-tech solution to climbing then an old ladder, Blizzard following in her wake.

Vantage turned virtually every system in the Quinn Jet to off, only the cloaking, surveillance unit; low output turbine engines and life support systems were online as the Thunderbolts hovered 20ft above the top of the turret. A full minute and a half after they had arrived on station the first AIM foot-soldiers emerged from the building each carrying pulse rifles before settling down on the rooftop, one removing his helmet to smoke a cigarette.

"You think that no-smoking regulations wouldn't matter with AIM." the smoker complained, "But no MODAK forbid us to light up in the building and work spaces."

"Don't worry about that, worry about Arkady, apparently his client is growing impatient." the second soldier told him, "Thinks he knows better then MODAK."

"I still don't know why the Sultan is buying weapons from us, he's meant to be some kind of genius right?" the smoker asked.

"Did you sniff the Sodium Peroxide again?" the other one said snidely, "The guys dressed like Sharzadi soldiers don't work for Magus it's a con to prevent customs from bothering them. They really work for that guy who came in last week to meet MODAK, you know the leader of the Spider Man Gang."

"That guy he freaked me out." the smoker announced sitting down on the parapet before putting on his helmet, "Yeah situation at Tower 2 is Compass Seraph" he said speaking into the armours comm. system.

"Compass Seraph what the hell does that mean?" Scorcher asked, "Why is it that nerd's can't speak in English."

"It's the AIM Phonetic Alphabet." Vantage replied, "Compass is C and Seraph is S." she added, "What it mean's is anybody's guess." she added.

"I think it means you're boned." Bison announced as AIM units arrived on the adjacent roof and levelled a fearsome looking launcher at the Quinn Jet. Dallas kicked the jet's automatic bay doors and grabbed her staff and a pistol before yelling, "Incoming." the blast smashed into the Quinn Jet sending her flailing off the edge as the other Thunderbolts fell out of the wreckage. Scorcher hit the tower and rolled into the AIM agent who had been smoking before delivering a swift kick to the nuts before slamming the other into a hatch and listening to him fall down the stairs before thudding against what sounded like a metal door. The smoking AIM agent groaned and Scorcher turned before opening fire with a pistol sized flamethrower, the fire sending him screaming over the edge, flailing in panic. "Smoking is bad for your health." she said cruelly before searching for the others. Satisfied that she hadn't been seen she slipped down the hatch into the bowls of the AIM facility.

One of a team of five bored AIM technicians, all armed to the teeth with Pulse Rifles, Taser Batons and Concussion Grenades, heard the knock on the Water Gate Control Room Door first, sighed put down his coffee. It was probably one of Arkady's Men looking to use the bathroom again, part of him seriously wished that MODAK and the Scientist Supreme would let him vaporize a few of the assorted Middle Eastern and South American thugs that the Arms Dealer had brought with him.

"What do you want?" he snarled as he opened the door only to see a young woman dressed in a T-Shirt and Paisley Skirt looking back at him with hazel eyes, her hair braided into cornrows. "Sandra." he gasped embracing her.

"Smitty what the hell do you think your doing?" a second AIM Technican asked as 'Smitty' convulsed on the floor in the arms of his would be lover.

"Sound the alarm." a third more senior member ordered reaching for a large red button.

"You guys need to chill." Blizzard told them as he emerged from the portable darkness cloaking field quickly freezing the four AIM technicians as Black Mamba walked over to 'Smitty' and slammed his face into the wall knocking him out. Turning round she saw Blizzard staring at one of the computer screens, the display showing the Quinn Jet they had arrived in smashing into the wall of the main facility.

"Abe we have a problem." she said over the communicator, seconds later the alarm sounded and sirens flashed sending Arkady's men scrambling. "I hear," Abe repplied "what did you and Blizzard set off?" he asked

"Not us, the Quinn Jet has crashed or more likely has been shot down." Black Mamba replied as eight of the men onboard the Patrol Boat exited before meeting up with the men on the dock and thundering off towards the steps up to the main entrance.

"Tiger Shark." Abe whispered signalling for the aquatic villain to swim over, "You reckon that you could pilot that thing."

"Should be easy as long as the controls are in English." Tiger Shark grunted, "You looking for some State Sponsored Piracy?" he asked grinning.

"Same rules apply and you don't leave until I or Vantage say so, do you understand?" Abe warned.

"Got it boss, if this is what I have to do to get years shaved off my sentence then I may make working for you a regular thing." Tiger Shark replied happily.

"Mamba go with him." Abe ordered, "Watch his six, Blizzard your with me." he announced jetting out of the water and opening fire on the two lookouts on the Patrol Boat's deck. Tiger Shark followed him up springing up onto the deck slamming a crew members head in a door before throwing him off the ship and onto the dock before slipping below decks. Abe ran up to the door where Blizzard was waiting before giving a nod and kicking it open, the two Thunderbolts coming face to face with more of Arkady's men all armed with advanced Pulse Rifles, the rapid fire plasma shells bouncing off the two attackers armor and ice shields. Soon the entire room was secure and Blizzard moved to the next door hoping that he and Abe would be able to secure the next room as quickly as they had this one.

"Blizzard, the hostages are two floors above us about forty feet into the building." Abe informed, "Let's take the quick way before these goons realize that there are two teams of attackers." Blizzard narrowed his eyes searching the cealing before finding what he wanted, jetting up on a sled of ice to a small crack in the stone. With a quick shot of ice the crack spider-webbed out before the ceiling collapsed, the weight of the people and equipment above sending an avalanche of rubble falling down. Undeterred Abe stomped up into the room with Blizzard covering his back freezing an AIM technician reaching for his gun as the pair headed deeper into the base.

Dallas crawled out of the wreckage of the Quinn Jet before putting her hand on something hairy sticking out of one of the metal catwalks which had been dislodged by the crash.

"Bison?" she asked as the figure moved shrugging off the catwalk and dragging her into a standing position.

"Remind me never to fly again." he snorted shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the headache he possessed. "So where are Shock and Scorcher?" he asked as a trio of AIM agents peeked over the edge of one of the towers and begun to fire down at them, the shots going wide and sparking off the burning Quinn Jet. From off and to the left on one of the catwalks a tarpaulin was removed and an AIM Soldier opened fire with a fixed Machine Gun, plasma sparking across the carved out crater and chewing holes in the wall.

"Bad shot's aren't they." Bison stated as he and Vantage hid behind the Quinn Jet, the later popping out to fire a few shots at the gunner and marksmen as they ducked back behind cover. From behind them there was a clatter of feet on a catwalk and more AIM agents arrived firing down on them causing Dallas to twist and empty the magazine sending three of the eight shooters plummeting off the walkway.

"I'm on my last clip of ammo." Dallas told Bison, "Listen we need to get three floors down and liberate the hostages. When I say go head for the door, I'll cover you." she ordered.

"And then what?" Bison asked as Dallas popped out an ammo clip and slotted it into the pistol, "A heroic blaze of glory? That doesn't seem like a waste at all." he added sarcastically.

"You have a better idea?" Dallas snapped as a ninth AIM soldier arrived lugging a man portable radiation mortar on his back setting it up behind the others. Dallas fired a shot but one of the original shooters stepped in front taking the bullet for his comrade before Bison saw something else move in the partially destroyed tower above them.

"Hold on." he told Vantage as he picked her up and ran towards the tower, bursts of plasma snapping at his ankles as the mortar gunner lined up a shot. He never fired though as a blast of sonic energy scythed through the support beams on one side sending the agents slipping and sliding into the crater as Bison barged through the door before plonking Vantage down on the steps. Casually walking down the stairs half his mask covered in blood Shocker arrived one of his hands gauntlet free, the other sparking menacingly.

"Who invited the Bee Keepers?" he asked

"Your face." Dallas said, "Are you injured?" she asked

"Hit my head on the way down, one of the gauntlets was crushed so I threw it away." Shocker replied, "Anybody see Scorcher by any chance?" he asked.

"No but I have an idea on how to get down to the lower levels quick and all it will need is a quick jolt of electricity." she told Shocker rubbing her legs as she spoke.

Tiger Shark locked the last sailor in one of the locker stealing his hat before he closed the door. He had taken the ship quickly and efficiently and while all the crew were wounded most had nothing more then a few cuts and concussions. Throwing the black naval cap away he swaggered into the bridge as Black Mamba attached a box with cables to the computers.

"Information Transfer?" he asked, she nodded it made sense, if they could find out some more info about the goons then they SHIELD would have an easier job to deal with them later. Suddenly Mamba gasped before bringing up a list of the Patrol Boat's cargo, among the boxes emblazoned with AIM logos, was a metal coffin with HAMMER warning stickers informing all who saw it that the material contained within was not only Radioactive but was Bio Hazardous and an Irritant.

"Guess we have to find out what's inside?" Tiger Shark moaned.

"You'd rather sit here and let the others have all the fun." Mamba replied picking up a dropped BXP Sub Machine Gun and a satchel of rifle grenades for the weapon.

"Touche." Tiger Shark grunted taking a long look at the screen and the coffin before the pair of Thunderbolts headed into the hull. As they reached the cargo bay and slid open the automatic doors the temperature dropped. "Feels like Blizzard has been here already." Tiger Shark moaned as Mamba opened one of the AIM crates, the plasma packs inside glowing blue indicating they were charged and ready for action.

"Now for the grand prize." Black Mamba whispered as she reached the coffin, rubbing a layer of frost off the top. "Did you bring a Crowbar?" she asked

"Do I look like a member of the Wrecking Crew?" Tiger Shark replied sarcastically as he circled round the coffin. "Gottcha." he stated as he found a computer panel at the end. Carefully he pressed the release button which sent the lid catapulting off thick icy fog erupting from the case. Rising from the box silhouetted against the fog and dim lighting a man lurched forward before stating, "Project Brigade Model 6 of 10 Online. DNA Acquisition Mode Online and Main Function." it announced as a massive stinger erupted from its hands. Black Mamba opened fire with the BXP, the tiny rounds bouncing off the Cyborgs chest until it flicked its wrist firing the stinger into her shoulder.

"DNA Acquisition Sealey, Tanya AKA Black Mamba complete." Brigade croaked removing the stinger from her shoulder. "DNA integrated, move to stage two of specimen preparation." he announced as Tiger Shark charged in only to be deflected with a quick elbow smash. "Terminate and Remove Head, suggested module Akhiro." he finalized as bone claws slid out of his hands and into Tanya's chest.


	4. Lightning's First Strike

AIM Guards flooded into the area where the Quinn Jet had carved out a crater into the building's structure. Most were armed with standard issue pulse rifles but a few had lugged massive stationary machine guns onto the walkways, the rapid firing accelerated plasma guns were capable of ripping through the toughest defences, giving their wielders a false sense of security. As they set up defensive positions three more senior AIM members stood on the top of the tower as a hologram of the Scientist Supreme flickered in front of them

"Agent 761 report." the hologram asked, "Who infiltrated this facility?"

"The Shocker, Vantage and Bison, we believe that they are acting on SHIELD's orders." the agent announced, "There was a forth contact too but we have not been able to identify her."

"A pity." the hologram replied, "Such a waste of a good agent." he said. Seconds later Agent 761 exploded in a meaty explosion showering the other two agents who stood motionless not acknowledging their comrades death. "What is the status of loading operations onto Arkady's ships."

"Two are fully packed and have left, the third is ready to depart, but we seem to be having trouble reaching the men stationed at the dock control room." one of the agent's announced, "I thought it prudent to send a team down to investigate."

"You thought it prudent?" the hologram replied as the AIM agent detonated. "You do as we say. You." he called to the last agent standing, "Do you have anything to tell me?" he asked.

"Nothing Sir, we await your orders." the agent said sharply. "Good." the hologram answered before flickering out of view. The agent turned and pointed to the tower where the Thunderbolts had taken cover, gesturing for a six man squad to investigate. Inside the tower Shocker twisted his gauntlet to a low setting and energized the slice of fabric that Vantage was wrapping round her arm.

"Okay here goes nothing." she breathed, "If this works stay close you don't want to get lost in there."

"Where?" Bison asked as Dallas fired a pulse of energy at the wall creating a dark vortex on the stone work. Quickly she walked inside and nervously Bison followed with Shocker bringing up the rear the portal closing behind him. "Okay this is creepy." Bison muttered as Dallas led the way delicately moving through the field of darkness before stopping.

"That fabric was part of a dark-force suit used by a Thunderbolt know as Smuggler, he used to transport himself through this dimension so he could cover long distances almost instantly. The costume was destroyed but fragments like this one." she said indicting the fabric wrapped round her arm, "Are still active for a short period of time when energized. Here this is our exit." she announced ripping a hole that led into a corridor in the facility, electric lights glaring as the three Thunderbolts left the other dimension. As the portal closed the fabric caught alight quickly burning to a crisp, Shocker felt something in his throat, and rolled his mask back before throwing up on the floor. Seconds later Bison and Vantage followed suit, the sickness obviously a side-affect of travelling through the Dark Force Dimension.

"We've located the intruders." a voice said as a quartet of AIM Agents swam into view. "Send reinforcements to Sector 0, I repeat we have intruders under guard in Sector 0." the squad leader called, "Blast it something is blocking our communications."

"Sir we have seismic disturbances increasing." a second agent informed the leader. The head AIM Agent walked over and kicked Shocker onto to his back and removing his gauntlet, "How are you doing that?" he asked the Thunderbolt.

"I'm not." Shocker replied as a crack appeared on the floor next to him. The AIM agent noticed it too and moved to butt Shocker with his rifle but was quickly repelled with a quick shove before being knocked out as his victim reacted to his confusion. The other AIM agents opened fire but it was too late Bison squatting onto his hindquarters lunged at a pair head-slamming them into the floor. The forth called out for assistance before the floor gave way underneath him sending him falling to the level below with an almighty thump.

"Need a hand?" Abe asked Dallas as he powered up through the breach.

"I've got it." Dallas replied pulling herself up with her staff as Blizzard popped up through the hole freezing it behind him.

"You're missing one of your team." Abe announced as he surveyed the Thunderbolts.

"So you're missing two of yours." Dallas snapped.

"Tiger Shark and Mamba are securing a ride out of here, hopefully getting out will be easier then getting in." Abe explained, "Where's Scorcher we could use her close combat expertise."

"I don't know AIM's blocking the tracking software in her weapons." Dallas replied, "Where ever she is she's on her own."

Scorcher had found what she was looking for, and as she slipped the AIM Hazmat suit over her uniform she could hear the sounds of battle, probably the other Thunderbolts or possibly the arms dealers fighting AIM agents, at the moment she couldn't care she had her own work to do. While her initial reason for infiltration was to find the hostages and rescue them she had got sidetracked when she had reached a series of laboratories, their doors converted into air locks with a yellow warning sticker for mutagenic chemicals, and had decided to investigate. Inside in a thick airtight container was a slap of rock with a gleaming crystal inside, accessing the computer's in the lab the database announced that the sample had come back from the Moon with the Apollo 14 Mission and had been stolen by AIM very recently. Quickly Scorcher drew her pocket sized flamethrower and melted the case before removing the crystal and slipping it into a small box of flares mounted on her thigh.

"I can't believe my luck." she stated, "This is going to change everything." Turning to leave Scorcher closed the Air Lock and hurried after the AIM agents all of whom seemed to be heading towards the main command centre. She was tempted to incinerate a few of the nerds but decided that there was no reason to bring attention to herself now that she was dressed like the main security that infested this facility.

Tiger Shark tackled the Brigade Unit from behind the blow forcing the zombie Cyborgs claws deeper into Mamba's chest. Even though he had done more harm then good the Zombie acknowledged his attack and retracted the bone blades from Mamba before giving Tiger Shark a swift kick sending him into a box of plasma cells. Wrapping his hands around one of the cells and twisting the output node, Tiger Shark charged in again, before sinking his teeth into Brigade's chest quickly implanting the plasma cell and then leaping on top of Mamba as the cell exploded.

Placing his hands on Mamba's chest he felt the flow of blood reduce, from what little he knew about medicine he had to keep his hands on the wound to quell the bleeding. "Abe are you there?" he asked speaking into Tanya's communication's headset.

"Tiger Shark this is MACH VI, what do you need?" Abe asked.

"We got a Brigade Cybrog down here, I think I got him but Mamba's been hurt really bad." Tiger Shark replied, "I need to know how long you guys are going to be and if there is anything more then putting pressure on the wound, that I can do."

"Listen we're about to breach the control room where the kids are being held. But we don't know who or what is behind this door so it might take some time." Abe announced, "Just stay with her, keep the wound pressurized and keep her conscious, talk to her. As soon as the area is clear I'll send Vantage down with the field medical kit but until then it's all on you."

"Great." Tiger Shark replied, "Hey Mamba you still with me."

"I'm still here." Tanya replied, "I just wanted to do something right for once."

"Well hold on and maybe you will get what you want." Tiger Shark stated as Mamba tried to move, "Hold still or you'll bleed faster, I wish there was something more I could do to save you but Abe said that this is it."

"The manifest for this ship said that there was a box of temporary quick acting coagulants." Mamba said, "In a box marked Africa First." Tiger Shark turned his head and saw the box lying next to Brigade's coffin, too far for him to move without leaving Mamba. Eventually he made a decision and removed part of his chest armor, turning off the hydration unit and hoping that the metal would slow the bleeding as he placed it over the wound. Quickly he ran to the box ripping off the lid and picking up two canisters of the agent he was looking for before walking back, only to stop as something behind him moved. Looking round he saw a lithe blue skinned woman with long black hair looking back at him, instantly he knew who she was.

"Mara." he said dropping the canisters and walking over, "Mara is that really you." he asked as she wrapped her hands around him unaware of Brigade, his chest scarred and ripped open by the exploding fuel cell cocking an M9 pistol and levelling it at his head.

Abe shoulder barged the door, knowing that he was know on the clock, that every second wasted pushed Black Mamba closer to death. As the wood splintered he opened fire with the blasters as Shocker and Vantage pushed in behind him adding pistol shots and energy blasts to the mix. Most of the enemies inside were taken down in the first blast but a few of the AIM Agents and Arkady's Arms Dealers stood their ground before being taken down as the Thunderbolts muscled into the room. As the dust settled Abe saw the Scientist Supreme and Arkady in the centre of the chamber vanish, the hologram matrix projecting the images shut down by the collapsing body of an AIM Agent.

"MACH over here." Bison called as he and Blizzard secured a few quivering defenders at the end of a long room adjoining the control room. Walking down Abe saw what Bison had seen, the chamber was lit by green tubes each containing one of the hostages in a fluid filled sack. Under each chamber was a name of a hero Abe passed by plaques baring the names of Spider Man, Captain America and The Thing before reaching the end where a tube lay empty. "The Green Goblin." Abe whispered, "So you got your legacy in the end Norman."

"Should we drain the tanks?" Blizzard asked, "There could be complications since none of us have been strapped in one of these and AIM wasn't kind enough to leave a manual behind."

"Blizzard carve a path back to the ship and take Vantage with you. I'll see what I can find here that will help us move the hostages." Abe ordered as his armor inserted a tendril into the computer network. "Okay." he said a couple of minutes later, "Bison, Shocker if we drain the tanks, protocol kicks in and kills the hostages. Only Osborne and I guess MODOK now have the sequence to unlock the safeties. However manual removal won't do a thing as long as we get them out of the tank's fast enough."

"Manual Removal, that's smash and grab right?" Bison asked, "Because that I'm good at." he said walking over to the fist tank and smashing his fist through the glass before removing the child inside. Moments later the child moved and wiggled out of the sack hacking and coughing but physically unharmed. "Listen kid." Abe announced, "We're with SHIELD so I need you to stay with us so we can get out of here." As soon as the words left his mouth Abe knew the kid was going to bolt, the child accelerating off at phenomenal speed.

"Quicksilver huh." Shocker read the plaque under the broken tank. "You really have a way with kids MACH VI."

"And you about to find a way to get him back here." Abe ordered, "Bison stop removing the hostages for the moment. I think I have a way to keep anymore running off."

Tanya blinked, the fist movement she had been able to do for a while, struggling she sat up, using the wall as handholds although the heavy chest piece on her thorax burnt as she moved. Tapping against her hand was a canister and slowly and delibratly she sprayed the contents under the chest piece, the burning sensation replaced with what felt like a swarm of ants crawling in her midriff. Looking down the cargo hold she saw a tattered looking Brigade line up a shot on Tiger Shark, the aquatic villain wrapped in a shroud of darkness that was instantly recognizable.

"I've missed you." Mara told Tiger Shark, "You're the only man I loved."

"I never thought this day would come." Tiger Shark replied as his breathing grew more shallow, "No woman from the surface or Atlantis could compare to you."

"Todd." Tanya yelled, "Snap out of it, she's only an illusion." Brigade turned and fired a shot at her, the round missing her head by inches.

"Did you hear that?" Tiger Shark remarked pulling away from Mara.

"I heard nothing." Mara replied, "Stay with me." she pleaded as Todd almost got free of her clutches.

"I'll stay," he told her, "if you stay."

"I will always be with you." Mara said stroking his dorsal fin. "You're my husband."

"Todd she's killing you." Tanya cried throwing the empty canister of blood coagulant, the improvised missile flying through Mara's head. Tiger Shark turned and let loose a low growl before advancing on Mamba completely ignoring Brigade as the shadowy blot of darkness attempted to hold him back. "Please stay with me." Mara cried as Todd advanced on Tanya the injured Thunderbolt picking up the dropped BXP as Brigade advanced behind the lovers.

"Todd it's not real she's dead." Tanya announced fitting a rifle grenade on the end of the BXP.

"I know." Tiger Shark growled before letting loose a massive growl and throwing the shadow off him, the form of Mara dissolving revealing Brigade behind them. Tanya opened fire the grenade impacting on Brigade's shoulder causing him to stumble. Turning Todd ran following Mamba up the ladder and onto the main deck closing the hatch as Brigade climbed up after them.

"I see your better." Vantage mused surprising the two Thunderbolts as Blizzard lifted himself and her up onto the deck with an icy set of steps. She dismounted and leaned on one of the heavy machine guns positioned on the deck looking at Black Mamba trying to figure out what damage if any she had suffered.

"It's only temporary and we have another problem." she announced as Brigade slammed his fist through the hatch and emerged scowling onto the deck. "Targets Assalis, Todd and Rhioden, Dallas must be catalogued." Brigade growled, "Target Gill, Donald has no abilities worth harvesting."

"Basted." Blizzard cursed quickly freezing Brigade in a block of ice. "Nothing worth harvesting my cute frozen ass." Brigade's eyes glowed and the ice melted before it stepped forward as Tiger Shark charged the Cyborg, a stinger embedding in his fist as Brigade met the charge and stabbed the appendage inside. "Subject Assalis, Todd acquired, abilities will be used passively to enhance this unit's damage thresholds."

"Let's see how you take this." Dallas yelled opening fire with the machine gun as Blizzard and Black Mamba joined in peppering Brigade with sharpened icicles and rounds from the BXP. Brigade staggered and fell to his knees before a machine gun round took off his head and smashed his core processor, the Cyborg falling to the floor motionless. "And stay down." Mamba yelled before wincing, "Okay maybe all this action wasn't good for my chest but at least we won."

"Well let's keep it that way." Tiger Shark snarled picking up Brigade's torso. "Blizzard take the head I know just where to put this." he growled.

Shocker ran down the myriad of corridors after the child, his path clear by the burn marks on the floor and the stream of unconscious AIM Agents. While he was fairly confident that a low level blast would stun the kid, and that his aim was good he didn't know if he would be able to hit such a fast moving target. Stalking round the next corner he found the child backed up against a wall as a pair of Arkady's Thugs pointed AK-74s at him, chuckling about something hilarious in Arabic. Shocker fired catching the first thug and then the second causing them to fall to their knees before succumbing to a pair of swift punches.

"Listen Kid I'm on your side honest." Shocker said removing his mask, "We need to get your back home to your folks."

"You're the Shocker." the kid stated, "You're a bad guy."

"Yeah I'm the Shocker but I've turned over a new lead." Shocker reasoned, "The Director of SHIELD chose me specially to lead the mission to save you and the others."

"You're a criminal your lying." the kid yelled getting ready to run, "Your going to take me back to the bad people so they can experiment on me."

"Nah that's not me." Shocker replied, "I knocked two of them out plus a whole load of Beekeepers, if I was one of the bad people then I'd be working with them."

"You promise." the kid asked.

"Sure thing buddy or my name isn't Herman which unfortunately it is." Shocker announced, "Scout's Honor cross my heart and hope to be carted of to the Raft. So you want to get out of here and back to your parents." The kid nodded before running up to Shocker and walking alongside him staring at his gauntlet periodically making sure that the Thunderbolt didn't betray his trust.

"Abe I've got the kid and we're heading back how is everyone else?" he asked.

"We're getting there. Bison just broke the last tank and I managed to get through to the children's parents so they could explain that we're here to help. I also located Scorcher, claims she's been turning off the facilities air defences but since we're not escaping by air it doesn't matter." Abe announced, "We're heading back to the boat at the water gate but I did activate the facilities emergency lighting follow the blue lights and you'll find us in no time."

"Here that kid, follow the blue lights." Shocker announced staring at the mix of yellow and purple lights. "Great now where are they he complained."

Five minutes later Shocker had found the control room and from there it was only a matter of following the blue lights and icy slides down to the water gate where a fast patrol boat sat staring out through open gates as Tiger Shark bobbed up after ripping the anchor out of it's mount. "Shocker you made it." Abe yelled, "Get onboard quickly AIM has been attempting to override the doors and defence network and my armor only has the computing power to only go another four or five rounds with those genius. Shocker nodded and watched as Tiger Shark crawled up the gang plank onto the top deck before heading for the bridge.

"Okay kid let's go." Shocker told the boy.

"It's Ryan." the kid announced as he headed for the gang plank Shocker covering his six. Groaning up in the control room 'Smitty' rubbed his head before looking down at the boat full of Thunderbolts, the former hostages having been moved down into the small crew space and galley below decks. Wrapping his hand's round his rifle he fired, accelerated energy slashing through Ryan knocking him off the plank and into the dock. Shocker jumped in after him as the Patrol Boat sprang into life and the dim thud of the deck machine gun firing could be heard. Grabbing Ryan, Shocker kicked to the surface as Abe hovered over head before reaching down and pulling them both out of the water and landing them on the deck.

"Ryan, god he's not breathing." Shocker yelled, "Dallas I need help over here."

Dallas sprinted over as Bison threw Abe the field medical kit, the later removing a pair of defibrillators and an electronic pulse reader but it was all ultimately too late, Ryan was dead, probably before he even hit the water. Shocker sat back and glared at the AIM facility in the distance. "I hope those guys burn in hell." he snarled.

"Don't worry they will." Abe announced, "Tiger Shark buried Brigade's fuel cells in the reactor room. Once they blow the power goes off and the emergency safe guards go on, the whole plant will be contained by force fields and the main building sterilized. They should have five minutes to vacate the building I chose to give them two."

"Not good enough." Shocker replied, "Not by far."

"Well bottle that up, the hard part of the mission is about to begin." Abe ordered.

"What hard part?" Bison asked

"The part where we give the kids back, from what I hear their parents have told the media and everyone has gathered to see you guys." Abe informed them, "Congratulations you all just became bonna-fide heros."


	5. Lethal Stopover

The Patrol Boat was low on fuel and it soon became apparent that it wouldn't reach New York Harbour, a clear sign that the arms dealers had a base closer to Marble Head Point, Abe decided it would be easier for the Thuderbolts to land in Boston and informed command. Despite Tiger Shark's use of an advanced anti coagulant solution Tanya would need to be admitted into a Level 1 Trauma Centre, the damage Brigade had caused to her would become a problem in a couple of hours. As the boat cut through towards their final destination Abe crouched on the deck looking at the team of Thunderbolts as they talked among themselves.

"So you think she's going to be fine if we get her to hospital." Tiger Shark asked Dallas.

"Abe has called Melissa and she has arranged for emergency service units to be ready to take her to hospital." Dallas replied, "If it wasn't for you she would be dead before we would even have left the facility."

"Uh thanks. Say do you think Melissa will let me keep this boat?" Tiger Shark asked

"If you have forgotten just a friendly reminder." Abe announced, "Your heading for the Raft for a life sentence when we hit terra-firma."

"Well I figured maybe I could join up on a more permanent kinda fixture." Tiger Shark spluttered, "It might do me some good."

"Well look at Tiger Shark trying to reform." Scorcher announced, "It's pathetic." she spat as she positioned herself at the back of the boat near Shocker.

"Maybe to you." Bison stated, "Makes me nostalgic for the time I was in Oklahoma. I had my own fan club and everything. I figure I might stay with this see how it plays out."

"I'm going to stay as well." Shocker said, "We lost a kid today, I lost him. Funny I always ran from responsibility but now." he trailed off, "I feel like I kind of owe a lot of people to at least try to be a hero."

"Again pathetic." Scorcher stated removing the box of her flares from her leg. "Unlike you I prefer to lead my own life and not do what Melissa freaking Gold expects of me." she complained as Abe stomped to the back of the boat.

"Guys get ready, we're not too far from the dock." he ordered, "Scorcher go down and check on the children, I'm going to tell Blizzard to slow the boat down and get ready to fall in with the police boats."

"Yes boss." Scorcher announced sarcastically getting to her feet and giving him an unfriendly shoulder barge. Abe barged her back sending Scorcher falling to the deck, the case of flares flying overboard. "No." Scorcher screamed. "Why the hell did you do that fucktard?"

"That was for speaking ill of my fiancé." Abe growled, "Now get to work unless you want to join those flares at the bottom of the ocean." Scorcher scuttled away below decks to where the children were stowed in the crew's mess with a few spilling out into the makeshift infirmary.

"Abe you may want to come and have a look at this." Blizzard called as Abe walked to the front of the boat. It was instantly clear what Blizzard had spotted and the other Thunderbolts on the top deck gathered around, the docks at Boston on fire and the sounds of gunshots filling the air.

"Maybe I was too harsh on Scorcher." Abe stated, "Melissa what's the situation on our dockside rendezvous. Melissa come in."

"You know for the Mistress of Sound, she isn't always easy to communicate with." Blizzard observed, "I assume you are of two minds about what we should do?" he asked. Abe nodded, whatever was going on at the docks was obviously nowhere near under-control, the local authorities and SHIELD units assigned to this crisis would need help containing whatever was going on. But equally with one member of the team critically injured and a boat full of children it would be risky to pull into port.

"Abe, if you want I will take the team out while you get the children to their parents. You have enough fuel to get to Weymoth the next port along." Dallas announced. "It will only take a few seconds for all of us to disembark." she added

"As long as your offering." Abe added as Blizzard turned to boat towards the end of the harbour narrowly avoiding a former coastguard vessel half sunk in the middle of the bay. "Okay everyone get out be heros. As soon as I get in contact with Melissa I'll let you guys know." he announced as he tagged Blizzard squeezing into the ship's bridge. "One of you get Scorcher tell her this is her stop." he added dryly, "Flames and Explosions she should feel right at home."

A full minute later the Thunderbolts minus MACH VI and Black Mamba were standing on the docks looking at the massive flumes of fire, and the smoke covered harbour. There was already a number of dead bodies on the ground and more then one of the Thunderbolts was wishing that they had stayed on the boat with Abe. Taking point Dallas led the team into the smoke glad that her face was covered and that the low visibility visor implanted in her mask was cutting through the haze like it was a light summer mist rather then a full bodied photochemical smog. Something moved up ahead and Dallas held up a hand signalling the others to stop, as she watched the figure jump into the ocean panicking and splashing like mad.

"Tiger Shark go and rescue that idiot before he drowns." Dallas ordered. Tiger Shark slipped down the dock and grabbed the splashing man, dressed in the remains of a business suit, burn marks covering his body before hauling onto the dock.

"Get back you monsters." he screamed attempting to slide away from the Thunderbolts. Scorcher rolled her eyes although none of the others paid her any attention.

"Who did this?" Dallas asked the man removing her mask to show that she had a human face.

"Monsters, they said that they were looking for something." the man yammered still trying to edge away from the Thunderbolts. "They said somebody had stolen from them and… and." he started to weep as black blood oozed from his burns and his mouth.

"Jesus." Blizzard announced, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you." he told Dallas as she bent down.

"It's Diesel, this man was lased with some kind of organically produced diesel oil." she replied, "He was murdered." she added as the flame at the nearest warehouse erupted into a massive pyre, more burning victims leaping for the water as two figures walked calmly out of the building. One of them pointed at the Thunderbolts while the other turned tail and ran heading back into the blaze.

"Maybe they know something." Bison snorted, "Want me to run down the punk who escaped?" he asked, "No worries," he added, "this one's on the house." he finished charging at the silhouetted figure. Dallas slipped her mask back on and activated the visors zoom lens function, the man had appeared quite bulky but now she knew why and she had to stop Bison from charging. She could activate the criminals nanites but she considered that unfair, Bison had done something stupid not wrong. "Bison duck and cover." she yelled as long metallic needles erupted from the man's shoulders and backs before they were launched at the charging Thunderbolt, quills embedding in his chest and neck causing Bison to stumble and slump onto the floor.

"Bloody Porcupine." Bison moaned as he brushed some of the quills out of his legs. "Why the hell is he here and torching Boston, everybody knows you either terrorize New York or San Francisco."

"On the contrary, I'm not a bog standard terrorist." the Porcupine snarled, "I'm working and you're a soon to be pin cushion." he added as more figures walked out of the burning harbour building.

"Yes because Boston Harbour needed setting alight." Scorcher said sarcastically as she and the other Thunderbolts moved up behind assorted debris to where Bison was lying.

"We're here because we were told to retrieve the items you stole." a female voice announced, "The Lethal Legion will take the ship you stole and everything on it and deliver it to our employer."

"Lethal Legion?" Dallas said, "You guys do realize that we don't have the boat." she replied

"Give us the boat." a second figure announced, his voice accompanied with the sound of grating knives.

"When did the Lethal Legion start scraping the bottom of the barrel for its members?" Tiger Shark yelled as he and Blizzard pulled Bison behind a large crate out of the Porcupine's direct line of fire. "You guys are idiots and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Lethal Legion Attack." the woman yelled as a hail of quills launched by the Porcupine kept the Thunderbolts pinned down as a pair of figures skilfully leapt into the fray. Dallas intercepted the first while the second crashed into Tiger Shark slicing him across the belly before being pushed away into the harbour with an almighty splash.

"Shocker take out the Porcupine so we can spread out." Dallas ordered as she repelled the female attacker with her staff meeting her opponents large scythe blade. While Dallas had never met the woman it was not hard to see who she was emulating in her indigo blue armor and weaponized blade arm. "So you're the Grim Reaper I presume." she grunted as she blocked another aggressive swing.

"Who else would I bloody be." the Grim Reaper replied, her voice the one of the leader of the legion, "You Americans are so stupid, always asking questions." she added using the momentum of one of Dallas's staff strikes to swing up and over the Thunderbolt to where Scorcher was crouched loading a series of yellow cased grenades into an Milkor MGL that she had stolen from one of the arms crates that had been in the Patrol Boats cargo hold. "Hello Slut." the Grim Reaper said grinning and stabbing into the grenade launcher, her scythe cutting into one of the grenades, the projectile exploding into a pool of purple light. Dallas shaded her eyes as the purple light cooled leaving a glassy smear on the dock as Scorcher shoulder barged the Grim Reaper into one of the crates.

"What's with the light show?" Shocker asked as he fired bursts of sonic energy at the Porcupine occasionally ducking down as quills laced with tracer ammunition whizzed overhead.

"Short Range Area of Denial Grenade I guess" Scorcher suggested. "That bitch trashed my launcher." she complained as the Grim Reaper wiggled free of Dallas as she attempted to cuff the villain, barley dodging a backwards slash from the English Woman. There was the sound of a man groaning in pain from the other end of the dock as the Porcupine was hit by an energy blast.

"Pay Back time." Bison growled ripping the lid off a metal box and holding it out like a shield as he charged. The Porcupine fired a few quills the tips penetrating the makeshift barrier but not enough to slow Bison's charge. As he got within fifty meters the two figures flanking the Porcupine, one darting off the edge of the dock while the other leapt over Bison to find himself face to face with Tiger Shark as Bison crashed into the Porcupine sending him flailing into the burning building.

"So Todd the rumours are true." the man said in an accented voice, "To think that you would have fallen so far from what you were." he added.

"Shut your mouth Gargoyle." Tiger Shark growled, "You don't know how idiotic we were, this gig is going to pay off more then anything we accomplished as villains now be a good cheese eating surrender monkey and well surrender." he ordered. The Grey Gargoyle hissed before lunging at Tiger Shark who waited before slipping under his stony opponent's strike head slamming him into the dock, pinning his former team mate down by standing on his chest. "Blizzard give me a hand and freeze his right arm." Tiger Shark asked as Blizzard stepped forward only to narrowly avoid a blast of acid fired up from the water.

Looking over the edge Blizzard and Tiger Shark saw the Trapster floating on an anti-gravity platform firing up at them with a large shotgun, the acidic projectiles rocketing past them as the Grey Gargoyle grabbed Tiger Shark's shoulders, his grey skin transforming into hard granite. Blizzard twisted as he saw Tiger Shark fall into the ocean and slid off the dock on a hastily created ice slide before landing on an icy platform as the Trapster whizzed around his head on an anti gravity disc, almost identical to the ones used by his former team mate the Wizard.

"So Trapster." Blizzard said jumping from frozen platform to frozen platform dodging blasts from his foe's gun. "The Wizard kick you out of the Frightful Four again?" he mocked sliding on a frozen loop over the Trapster's head as a blast of acid melted the platform he had been standing on.

"He did but this gig pays a lot better, just got to make sure we get what we want so we don't end up on the boss man's platter." the Trapster told him switching weapons to an ultrasonic transmitter and shattering the ice Blizzard was using as a ramp. "And I won't tell you a thing more." he added as Blizzard barley managed to avoid the water by creating a frozen platform that raised from the ocean.

"If that's how your going to feel." Blizzard said sulkily, "Then I'll put this conversation on ice." he announced firing a Freon beam directly at the Trapster locking him in a block of ice. "Hopefully that will trap you for a while." he mused arching towards the dock as the block of ice behind him dripped as it's captive attempted to free himself before hypothermia kicked in.

Shocker walked to the end of the dock, it seemed like most of the fighting was under control, save for Tiger Shark's misadventure with the Grey Gargoyle. As he got ready to give the Gargoyle the shock of his life a head of shaggy brown hair appeared over the side clutching an energy dagger, "That's right bitch the Hell Ra…" Shocker fired a blast of Level 2 sending the man flailing back into the water. "That's for being disproportionately arrogant to your reputation." Shocker announced as an explosion rocked one of the buildings. Sighing Shocker turned back to see Blizzard re-engaged with the Trapster, Vantage continuing to tussle with the Grim Reaper and Scorcher attempting to incinerate the Grey Gargoyle. "Well let's go see what mess Bison has got himself in." he muttered under his breath as he followed the path of destruction.

"Tiger Shark is a monstrosity, he would need a lot of work to appear presentable." the Grey Gargoyle told Scorcher as he marched through the flames she fired at him. "You on the other hand are a real beauty my chere."

"And you are seriously creepy." Scorcher announced as her flamethrower overheated. Desperately she reached for one of the Area of Denial Grenades clipped to her belt, throwing the weapon at the Grey Gargoyle who caught it with his right hand, the stony projectile dropping to the floor, traces of purple light leaking from the surface.

"Too little, too late." the Grey Gargoyle chirped, "I will make you young and beautiful for ever." he announced. Scorcher closed her eyes as the grenade detonate, chunks of stone flying off as her assailant was bathed in light. Risking a look she saw the Grey Gargoyle frozen his entire body turned to glass from the grenade, Scorcher hadn't got a clue on what had happened although she was highly tempted to smash the French man.

"Area of Denial Grenades, really have to add those to my shopping list." she stated as Blizzard emerged dragging the Trapster, his hands and feet shackle with ice and slung him against the Gargoyle. "That's Two down, three if you count that guy who Tiger Shark flung off the dock." he announced, "God I missed this." he added as Dallas blocked an overhead swipe by the Grim Reaper before smartly kicking her in the chin, although her enemy recovered as she flew through the air.

Bison threw the Porcupine to the ground as his foe unleashed a shower of darts, each exploding into clouds of smoke causing the Thunderbolt to cough and choke. "Muscle Relaxant." the Porcupine sneered, "Your strength will be nothing when you can hardly stand."

"I can hardly stand you." Bison said slamming his fist in the Porcupine's face smashing his mask and sending the villain toppling to the floor, his nose bleeding as he struggled to stand. Bison nodded and turned away to rejoin the others when something impacted with his rump. Turning he saw the Porcupine had fired a dart at him, angrily he snorted before charging in slamming his horns into the villain's chest and levering him out of his suit before throwing him off into a nearby building, the flying foe barley missing Shocker as he walked through the debris left by Bison's charge.

"Damm Bison you think maybe that was a bit of an overkill moment?" Shocker asked

"He deserved it he shot me in the ruddy arse." Bison muttered grabbing the Porcupine by the head, "Let's get this scum back with his buddies." he snorted.

Dallas cut through the Grim Reaper's scythe before jabbing her in the chest with the energized point sending the woman juddering backwards. Reaching for a pistol the Grim Reaper looked around seeing that her allies were mostly defeated. "Quick Sand don't just stand there do something." she snarled as Dallas took her pistol away and slapped her round the face with her staff, the blow sending the Grim Reaper falling back into the concrete of the dock knocking her unconscious. Quick Sand quickly flowed from her position by the destroyed harbour building to around Dallas a gravelly blade pressed against the Thunderbolt's throat. "Attack and Little Miss Glow Stick will loose her head." she hissed, her voice like a raging sandstorm singing in the desert. "Now back off and toss your weapons to me, not those drop them in the ocean." she ordered Scorcher as she removed her last intact Area of Denial from her belt. Blizzard threw his Freon pack into the sand woman just as Shocker and Bison arrived the later dropping the Porcupine lazily on the dock with a satisfying thud.

"You two, drop your weapons and come no closer." Quick Sand ordered.

"Do it man she took my Freon Pack." Blizzard warned turning to look at Shocker and winking. Shocker narrowed his eyes and fired a low intensity blast at the villainess the blast detonating the Freon pack, ice crawling up Quick Sand's body until she shattered into chunks of lumpy frozen snow.

"That's all of them." Bison stated as he and Shocker moved Porcupine onto the pile of Villains, "Where's Tiger Shark?" he asked not realizing that Hell Razor was climbing up the ladder whilst summoning a pair of energized daggers.

"Stoned at the bottom of the bay." Scorcher announced, "He'll be okay in about an hour." she added as Hell Razor threw the pair of knives. The deadly blades never reached the Thunderbolts as a pink shield dropped between them and the thrower. Hellrazor bowed his head and surrendered as Songbird landed on the dock followed by MACH VI.

"You missed one." Melissa remarked as she walked towards the others as a pair of T Wagons flanking a Zeus Class Shuttle landed nearby, SHIELD Agents hurrying the captured super villains inside. "Several Hostages Rescued and Six Super Criminals captured in the space of an afternoon. Looks like I made some good choices." she mused.

"Maam request position to speak freely." Dallas asked.

"Of Course." Melissa replied. "And remember its Melissa not Maam" she added

"I recommend that these candidates be finalized as the Thunderbolt East Coast Team." Dallas announced, "They may be rough around the edges but they defiantly have what it takes."

"I agree analysis shows that they work well together despite Black Mamba and Tiger Shark being currently missing they should be included in the team as well." Abe added as SHIELD divers hooked a winch from a hovering Thunder Hawk to something under the surface before lifting the Stone Tiger Shark from the bottom of the harbour.

"You heard them anybody who wants to leave go now you won't be judged by any of us." Melissa announced. None of the villains moved although Scorcher looked like she was contemplating running to the hills as fast as possible.

"Welcome to the Thunderbolts" Melissa announced smiling as Abe led the team into the Zeus Shuttle, with Tiger Shark wheeled on a pump truck inside. "And Good Luck," she added as the doors closed, "you're all going to need it."


	6. FACT and the Masters of Evil

**Federal Advisory Committee to the Thunderbolts Annex, Avengers Tower, New York City - 14:00PM, 19th September**

Melissa sat at the end of the large oak wood table waiting for the review meeting to start. It had been two weeks since the Thunderbolts first official mission and they had been on five subsequent assignments with little incident, save for a few cuts and bruises and only a few traumatized civilians. She was confident that the team was ready for phase two but first she had to convince the review board that made up the Federal Advisory Committee to the Thunderbolts that they were ready. From behind her the door scrapped along the ground and Melissa stood up from the chair as three men and a woman walked into the room, filling the four of the five vacant chairs.

"Director Gold, I am Chairman Nason, US Army attachment to SHIELD, this is Mr Loyn our overseas attaché," Nason announced gesturing to a thick set Arabic Man, "Ms Hannigan representative from the Prison Service and former Deputy Director Stark who I believe you know quite well." Nason's finished gesturing at the last two members of the circle, the latter Tony Stark looking her up and down with a toughly unpleasant look. "You could at least have worn a suit Director." he mused.

"I feel more comfortable in what I'm wearing." Melissa announced sitting down in her former Thunderbolt uniform, the lightning bolt on her belt proudly emblazoned for the committee to see.

"First of all we congratulate you in getting our house in order." Nason announced, "Thanks to you SHIELD is up and running, many talk of you being the next Nick Fury, Director."

"But not everybody in this room." Melissa replied, "At least one of you has already publicly voiced that I'm not fit to lead anything let along something as complex as SHIELD." she stated glaring at Tony Stark.

"I stand by my comments when you were selecting your Avengers." Stark announced, "Anybody who has done jail time should be ineligible for positions such as Director."

"Says the man who let Norman Osborne take over the Thunderbolts and give him a clear route to power." Melissa said snarkily.

"Both of you enough." Loyn said, his voice surprising clear and radiating power, "You can bicker all you want later, we are here to address issues with the current line up of Thunderbolts raised by the committee and of course any Director Gold would like to add."

"There's nothing wrong with the Thunderbolts, all of them have been performing well in the field and out of it, I believe that they are more then ready for phase 2 of the programme." Melissa announced.

"The committee agree unanimously that the team has performed above parameters, it's just that we feel that this is not the team we need at the moment." Hannigan stated, "We gave you a list of candidates and you didn't pick one of them."

"That's because none of them fit with the programme, they are too dangerous to control and most of all unwilling to reform. That and you went for the heaviest hitters you could find." Melissa replied, "It was easy to veto the majority and the rest aren't even available at current."

"Really give us three of the members we suggested that are unsuitable." Tony challenged.

"I can do all six." Melissa replied, "Number One, Venom, too independent, he's not a team player and if you have forgot, is a cannibal. Number Two Iron Clad is missing from the Negative Island Prison, even if I could find him there's that fact that it's impossible to install any control nanites in his blood stream. Number Three, Mastermind, her telepathy makes her difficult to control and she hates normal humans. Number Four, Fuel Rod, his radiation can't be contained even by hazmat suits, as far as I'm concerned he's a walking dirty bomb and finally Number Five, Kephi, she's in the wind, escaped and on the run, we'd be lucky to catch her let alone control her." Melissa finished.

"And number Six?" Tony asked

"Number Six, Karla Sophen, she's been through the programme and it didn't help, plus she's in a comma and will hopefully stay there out of my way. May God help her if she ever wakes up because she will be put in the smallest cell in the darkest prison I can find" Melissa replied, "As such I improvised and got the best team I could find."

"But the committee wanted the team you turned down?" Hannigan told her.

"So you had six less dangerous criminals to store in the Raft." Melissa replied, "I'm sorry if you have to deal with the worst scum but for that very reason they shouldn't be released."

"Director Gold has a point." Loyn stated, "The team she has assembled is adequate and we should move onto the next issue, the retrieval of the item found at Point 7-9, a case of flares. Normally the loss of such a piece of inexpensive piece of equipment would barley register but one member Juliana Worthing showed an overwhelming anger about it. We want you to help us understand why she was so concerned."

"I have no idea, scans showed a crystalline residue as well as slightly unusual atmospheric readings when opened but nothing out of the ordinary." Melissa answered, "I've kept my eyes on her and there have been no other such incidents while she has been serving."

"Her past record shows that she was a mutant who lost her powers, we fear that her resentment may resurface is exposed to certain missions." Nason stated, "We also have worries about the expenses that Tanya Sealey submitted, it's mostly a list of pain killers and we worry that she may have an addiction that could affect her performance on the field."

"Tanya was wounded at Asgard, New York during Carrion's assault and at Marblehead." Melissa said defensively, "If these are your concerns then you really are pulling at straws."

"The main problem we have is one of the handlers of the team." Loyn announced, "We believe they may be…" he paused, "working for our enemies."

"Who I can assure you that Chen, Abe and Dallas are all loyal to SHIELD." Melissa snapped.

"We know, it's you that we believe is the traitor." Tony announced

"What is this a joke?" Melissa snarled standing up sharply as sonic energy crackled at her finger tips.

"Over the past three weeks we have detected 13 separate incidents where you aura was spiked with Necromantic Energy matching the energy signature of the demonic virus Carrion." Hannigan stated, "These episodes only lasted for a few seconds but they did happen."

"I am not infected with Carrion." Melissa warned, "I have been on every Thunderbolt team that counts, there is no one better then me at picking out a team for redemption. As for these 'episodes' I haven't seen any evidence that they have occurred."

"Calm down Director." Nasons ordered, "We simply believe that you should be preoccupied with other matters."

"Like what the Avengers, SHIELD maybe the Covert Ops Team that I've been forming. If I can't deal with the Thunderbolts then why would I be any good at running them." Melissa said, "I'm putting the team through phase two with or without your approval. Your concerns are unfounded, now excuse me I have a team to brief." she added walking out the door slamming it behind her.

"You were right about her Mr. Stark." Nasons admitted, "Unfit to lead a team let along SHIELD, I vote that we pressure the board to push forward voting for a new Director. As for the Thunderbolts I presume we can leave this matter in your hands as we did the Necromantic Pulse Generator we had you install in the Lady Director's Office."

"I know somebody who can handle this." Tony admitted, "Melissa may be the spark that keeps the Thunderbolts going but my guy created the thing."

"And he can be trusted?" Hannigan asked.

"No but at least we know that, Melissa was always a risk but now we know that she's willing to play by her own rules not ours we need to remove her no matter what the cost." Stark admitted, "Trust me this Thunderbolt problem will be dealt as soon as possible, and without them Melissa's reign as Director will come crumbling down. Now excuse me gentlemen I have a call to make."

* * *

><p><strong>Inferno Club, Las Vegas, Nevada - 11:36AM, 19th September<strong>

"Yes Mister Stark, I will see to it that this team of Thunderbolts is taken care of." Zemo announced as he put down the phone, "I'm looking forward to meeting Melissa again, last time we met she threw me out of Avengers Tower. This time we will see how hostile she is when I arrive with my Masters of Evil." he told the Black Talon as the Voodoo priest worked on the body covered by a sheet. "How is the resurrection going?" he asked.

"I need more time this one's spirit is strongly protected." The Black Talon announced, "A few more days at least."

"I need him up and running fluidly today." Zemo ordered Black Talon, "Is there anything you can do to speed up the process."

"Nothing these things can't be rushed but the lady upstairs may have an idea, but uh tread lightly and don't agree to anything." Talon warned.

"Thank you I think I know the difficulties in asking her for help." Zemo snapped, "Penthouse." he said into the intercom. There was a flash of fire and he vanished before reappearing in the top floor of the Casino. The office he found himself was minimalist yet still fairly trendy, additionally his sudden flaming entrance hadn't burnt him or the carpet which was a good start for what he was about to do. Sitting behind the desk reclining on a chair was a woman dressed in green with antlers sprouting from her head and back. Zemo narrowed his eyes, he had assumed his host would look different although the form she was in was more pleasant to the eye. "Lady Hela I'm so glad you could see me." Zemo announced with mock servility, "I need to ask you for a favour." he added, "One that is right up your alley."

"Ask mortal." Hela announced, "I know what you want but I would hear it from your lips."

"The corpse that I recovered, I wish it to be alive yet the soul required to drive his body is fiercely guarded." Zemo informed Hela, "I would have you bequeath it to me with the modifications that I desire."

"And you are willing to pay for this transaction?" Hela asked

"It depends I would hope that this deal would not leave me in a compromising position." Zemo replied, "Name your price and I will consider if I can afford it."

"A mortal made a deal with me and Loki." Hela told Zemo, "Norman Osborne while he kept his bargain, Loki failed yet his body and soul are deceased unable to pay as such I would take the mortal's to wipe his debt. All I need you to do is to find the mortal, kill him and bring his head to me."

"And that would secure my warrior if I agree?" Zemo asked.

"It would, I will even give your champion life before you embark on your hunt as proof, but fail me and I will make you wish you hadn't entered this bargain." Hela threatened.

"Sounds fair." Zemo announced as he pulled a pen out of his pocket as a contract flew out of Hela's robes and floated in-front of them. Quickly he signed smirking at the name he had put down on the contract as Hela retracted it and signed herself. "Now do what you promised he ordered." Hela smiled a wicked smile before reaching out and ripping a golden orb out of a bowl made of bones on her desk before dropping it on the floor.

Zemo glared at her until the phone on his belt rung. "Hello," he said, "What he's awake?" he gasped, "And he's performing probably?" he smiled under his mask as he got the response from Black Talon, "Yes, I'll be down shortly." he flipped the phone off. "My thanks lady Hela, you have turned my greatest enemy into my closest ally. Once I have finished my business in New York I will bring you what you seek." he added wondering if he should take the lift down or just ask for a flash out like last time. Cautiously he took the lift and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor where he and his Masters of Evil were staying. Hela watched him leave before summoning up the contract and surveyed the name Zemo had signed, she smiled, "Clever Mortal, if you fail I will take the soul you have written down on this parchment. I will take the soul of Tony Stark and he will know what the fires of Hel feel like."


	7. Phase Two

Three armoured security trucks all decorated with a lightning bolt grasped by an Eagle emblazoned on the side pulled up outside the fortified mansion house, the passengers in the front of each sliding out and walking to the back of the trucks. "Okay release the Thunderbolts, I report Super Humans coming out." the driver of the middle truck ordered as the SHIELD agents opened the door and the fore mentioned team stepped out. "Okay guys you know what to do." the driver announced.

"Stop patronizing us." Scorcher replied, "We've done this before." she added as Tiger Shark led the team through the fortified mansion gates trying not to catch the eyes of the armed guards at the gate. Waiting at the door the team watched as Blizzard waved to the camera above the door, before it slid open allowing them inside.

"Home sweet home." Bison grunted, "Wonder what death trap has been installed while we've been away this time?"

"Don't be like that Bull Head." Tiger Shark replied, "I love this house." he announced loudly as if the house could hear him.

"You say that every time we come back." Scorcher replied, "It's getting annoying."

"Well you have the choice of living elsewhere, the only place I get to go is the Raft and I don't fancy spending time back in that cage." Tiger Shark told her as the team headed for the equipment room, walking past the Olympic Sized Swimming Pool and the fully stocked kitchen. "As for the house trying to kill us." Tiger Shark continued, "Remember who built this place." he asked

"Norman Osborne." Black Mamba moaned, "Only he would have a fortified summer house that tries to kill you almost every day." she rubbed her arm and winced.

"You okay Tanya?" Shocker asked showing a moderate amount of concern.

"Zaran knocked me a block and a half down the road with an Antique War Hammer." Mamba stated, "That tends to hurt." she added sarcastically. "Only Bison came off worse in that fight then me."

"I don't know I still like to think that the Batroc Brigade was sufficiently smashed when we finished, plus all three of them are heading to the raft." Bison snorted, as the Thunderbolts reached the equipment room. Shocker held out a hand signalling them to stop before pushing past Scorcher and Tiger Shark to the electronic locking device. Something hadn't felt right when they came in, and now he was certain that something else was here. The lock hadn't been tampered but the mechanism was warm suggesting that it had been used earlier.

"Stack Up everyone." he whispered, "Scorcher get ready to flash bang the room when Todd opens the door." Scorcher nodded and Tiger Shark strode forward flexing his muscles and pulled the door open. Scorcher opened fire throwing a pair of flash-bangs into the room and tinted her visor as the light erupted from the bombs before glowing pink. Shocker used the distraction to burst in and fire a blast that was deflected by a wall of energy that glowed in the fading light of the grenades detonation.

"That's not the way to greet your boss." a voice stated from the end of the corridor. "Although for readiness and quick thinking you all get an A." Melissa announced as she hovered into view.

"You know your becoming more like Fury every day." Bison announced, "Sneaking around, it won't be long before you have an eye patch or something like that."

"A burnt out larynx fitted with advanced cybernetics running on a Vibranium Fuel Cell is enough thank you." Melissa replied smiling, "Pack your equipment away and meet me in the main lounge I have," she paused, "news about the future of the project." She stalked out flicking her wrist and opening the required lockers with a series of low energy sonic pulses.

"Why does that sound ominous?" Black Mamba stated, "Do you think she's cancelling the project?" she asked.

"No idea but let's not keep her waiting." Blizzard announced storing his Freon Pack in a locker.

Melissa waited, files on the Thunderbolts she had chosen spread out across the desk each stuffed with evaluations and medical records. In her heart she knew what she was doing the right thing but in doing so she would alienate herself from FACT, something that they were bound to respond to, most likely dangerously for her, the Thunderbolts handlers and the team itself. She sighed and rubbed her head as her team arrived mostly dressed in civilian clothes although Tiger Shark had decided to come naked, water dripping off his skin leaving puddles on the floor. "Sit down there are some things I need to tell you." she announced gesturing to the assorted chairs and sofas, one specially reinforced to hold Bison's weight. "As we agreed Billy, one holographic shroud to help regain your human abilities." Melissa threw the cloak she had stored under her chair to Bison who eagerly put it on, his image shimmering replacing his bull like form with that of a well built African American Man.

"This is great, I owe you boss." Bison said smiling.

"Don't thank me just yet, your weight, build and height are still the same." Melissa warned, "And I have bad news, the committee decided that you are not the team they want."

"What the fucking hell?" Scorcher swore, "Who the hell did they want instead of us and why did you make it seem like we were doing so well?" she asked

"The answer to your first question is a walking dirty bomb from France, a pile of cannibalistic space gunk, a mad beetle goddess, two evil bitches and a rapidly rusting lost in time scrap heap." Melissa said, "And for the record Juliana, you are doing so well because I know how to pick a team that works together."

"So what happens to us now?" Tiger Shark asked, "I don't want to leave this house and my boat to go back to the raft." he added sadly checking over his shoulder to see if anyone was coming towards him with a Taser stave.

"Nobody here is going to the Raft." Melissa answered, "I decided that FACT can sit and wave their arms as much as they want to, because this is my team and your recent performance shows that I was right. In just two weeks you have taken down fifteen super villains, and while it's no record it still doesn't warrant you being chucked off the team."

"So what the team is still operational and we're still on it?" Bison asked as Black Mamba stared at his chest still stunned at the transformation.

"Yes but the following people are being let go." Melissa announced, "Shocker, Black Mamba, Scorcher, Bison, Blizzard and Tiger Shark are all off the team."

"What?" Mamba asked jerking out of her stunned admiration of Bison's well developed physique, well aware at the jealous glances that Tiger Shark was throwing him.

"I'm implementing stage two of the Thunderbolt programme." Melissa told them, "That entails that all members of the stage one team, that's you six adopt new heroic codenames and/or new costumes to aid in your rehabilitation."

"So we have to completely reinvent ourselves?" Shocker asked, "Because some of the tech I use is pretty unique and not at all easy to adapt." he added

"Plus that was a cruel ruse you pulled saying we were fired." Scorcher hissed.

"I'm not saying totally change but it would do you some good to get a fresh start, it worked for Abe not to mention Atlas, Harrier and the Swordsman among others all of whom either became Thunderbolts or Avengers." Melissa told them, "I know it was cruel but I'm feeling a little ticked of with a former SHIELD Director and Millionaire Power Armor wearing Play Boy and had to vent that somewhere."

"Abe's a millionaire?" Mamba joked before ducking down into her chair as she got some strange looks from the others.

"I got a question." Tiger Shark stated raising his hand, "Will we still be able to go on missions before we adopt this new appearance and name and stuff."

"Yes but I urge you all to write down changes as soon as possible. I'd be lying if I said FACT would just let me get away with this." Melissa said looking concerned, "That's about it, meeting adjourned or whatever." The Thunderbolts looked around and quickly dispersed with Scorcher heading upstairs while Mamba and Tiger Shark moved towards the pool as Bison and Shocker moved into the Kitchen leaving Melissa and Blizzard alone in the lounge.

"Well it's Wednesday and about four thirty which means it's time for my usual call to the Golden Palace for food." Blizzard announced, "You want to stay, I'm sure that the others won't mind."

"It's tempting." Melissa said, "But Abe and I have finally got a night where we are both on the East Coast and in the Northern Hemisphere so I'm not going to waste it. Thanks for the invite though, I'll take you up on that offer eventually." she added stretching a pair of sonic wings before heading for the door.

"I think there's some Doritos in the cupboard." Bison grunted as Shocker poured a glass of water out the tap.

"You know Don is ordering Chinese." he replied, "You'll ruin your appetite."

"Nah." Bison answered, "My body needs a lot of food something about a duel bovine-human digestive system, in other words I have two stomachs." He opened the door to a cupboard on the floor and squinted as something bright orange caught his attention. He suddenly realized what the item was and saw the red light blinking at the top of the round device and closed the door before tackling Shocker and dragging him into the lounge where Blizzard was engrossed in ordering the food.

"What's wrong with you wild Bill." Shocker growled attempting to heft the larger man off him.

"Pumpkin Bomb in the cupboard, it's armed and looked like it was ready to blow." Bison said pinning Shocker to the floor.

"Right that's the food ordered." Blizzard said to the pile of Thunderbolts on the floor, "Now what the hell are you doing or do I not want to know." he asked as Shocker wiggled free and opened the cupboard door before slamming it.

"Big guy's right call up the Bomb Squad guys and tell them we have another bomb for defusing." Shocker stated, "It's light activated, when the door opens it arms and blows up."

Blizzard pressed the 5 key on the phone pad and shook his head, "No dial tone, the phone's down." he walked over to the door mounted intercom, "Security this is Blizzard come in external security."

"Their out there." Bison stated, "I can see them moving around."

"I'm going to suit up and head to the breakers on the roof." Shocker announced, "It's probably a tripped switch or a downed telephone line. Either way I'm sure it will be easy to fix and I'm sure SHIELD will send a runner when they realized that communications are down." he added, "Just keep that door shut and we should be okay." He stormed off back to the equipment locker passing Black Mamba shakily sitting on a chair by the pool rocking backwards and forwards. He shook his head, any other time he would ask but for now it was more important that he got the house's systems working.

"You know the water's fine." Tiger Shark told Black Mamba as he hauled himself out of the pool. "You been at those pills again." Tanya nodded before looking into her questioners deep red eyes.

"It just hurts so much." she moaned

"What being punched by Zaran, I can imagine." Tiger Shark replied

"Not just that." Mamba replied, "I lost her, and know for the first time ever I'm alone."

"I'm here your not totally alone." Tiger Shark growled as he scratched off a patch of flaky skin on his left arm.

"You're here but you are not the same as her." Mamba announced, "She was my best friend and because I thought it would be fun to go and enjoy ourselves she was murdered."

"Listen to me." Tiger Shark said, "You are not to blame for that; it was bad luck, a shot from a sniper and most of all that jerk Nuke's desperate fantasy to get power. None of that was under your control."

"I could have saved her." Mamba replied weakly

"No you couldn't that place was hell during the assault, now if you want to talk about people who could have done more, well I'm sure that I come into that category." Tiger Shark announced, "My wife Mara and my son were killed by a group called the faceless ones, and the kicker is we were told of danger approaching our village and I chose to ignore the warnings. Who knows if I had taken heed I might be a different person to who I am today, maybe a proper hero instead of this false skin I'm wearing at the moment."

"Is that why you're shedding?" Mamba asked as she gingerly pulled a piece of skin off Tiger Shark's leg.

"It was a metaphor, the whole shedding skin in clumps is something to do with shark DNA in my blood stream." he grunted wrapping an arm around Tanya's shoulders, "You know I think you're my hero." he added, "Your living proof that a bad start doesn't mean your screwed for life, your actually making an effort to do this right. Me I'm just using it as a get out of jail free card."

"Maybe not, would the Tiger Shark of a month ago have talked to me about his problems and helped understand mine." Tanya asked, "You may not be a hero but your defiantly are not the guy who joined the team, your something better."

Blizzard heard a knock on the door and peered through the video screen, the link was down and he sighed, he could guess who it was but he'd rather be sure. Twisting the handle he came face to face with a massive box carried by a set of feminine hands.

"One Thunderbolt special." the woman behind the box announced in English, a Hong Kong accent mixed in making the voice distinct. Blizzard took the box to see a young woman her long black hair tired back clad in black trousers and a matching blouse. "That will by 75.90." Blizzard reached for his wallet before counting the notes inside. "How's business Jo?" he asked

"It's going fine, you guys alone keep my father's restaurant open, plus he's thinking about putting up a new sign that say's official takeaway of the Thunderbolts." Jo replied.

"Do we get to eat for free?" Blizzard asked.

"No," Jo announced as he handed her the money.

"Well can I at least ask you out on a date?" Blizzard asked, "Just for Coffee." Jo cocked her head and smiled, "I'm free Friday Lunch Time, meet me on Campus and we will get some coffee. You have my number," she added.

"And you have mine." Blizzard replied as she trotted back to the motorcycle parked outside the gate. Smiling he went back inside and placed the food on a work surface in the kitchen.

As Jo drove off her delivery finished, something flashed past her racing across the sky. An aeroplane, she mused or maybe a big bird nothing important as she got ready to leave the Rhode Island complex where the Thunderbolt Mansion was located. Her motorcycle suddenly stalled, the metal rippling before darting off the bike, the engine crushed into a tiny block before being launched into the horizon. Cursing in Mandarin, Jo got off and flipped open her mobile phone before something cold was placed against her throat. Looking up she saw a group of what could only be described as colourful individuals all armed to the teeth, their leader a man in purple pressing a sword against her throat.

"Ms. Chi-Yick we have a lot to talk about." Zemo sneered as a man dressed in an orange and black Kevlar suit with a visor over his face fingered a dart before flicking it into her neck. As she begun to black out Jo heard Zemo address his forces, "Enter the house and kill all inside. Caracara keep Gold away from the mansion, her time will come later."

"What about the girl?" a woman's voice asked

"Leave her to me." Zemo announced, "I have plans to deal with Melissa's Thunderbolts in case we fail and she is instrumental to them succeeding. Now move out and take back what is rightfully mine."


	8. Housewarming Party

Abe touched down outside the small town buried in the North Carolina countryside, it had been a long flight from the US Embassy in Santiago and the journey hadn't been worth the fuel and fatigue that it had cost. His armour's fuel cells reading low he had decided to stop and recharge the hydrogen cells, a process that would take twenty minutes. After that it was another forty five minutes to New York, the FAA had recently complained about him speeding and Melissa had been forced to place a top speed to his journey's unless it was an emergency. Flicking open the comm. panel Abe typed in a corresponding number and waited before a hologram of Melissa was projected standing next to the armor suit as he worked on one of the fuel cells.

"Abe how did Chile go?" Melissa asked

"Not well, the call was a hoax, there was no sign of Nuke or the neural shut down mechanism." Abe replied, "I also didn't get ambushed which makes the circumstances all the more suspicious."

"Where are you and what's your ETA to Avengers Tower?" Melissa asked

"Just five clicks East of a town called Vass filling up the fuel cells at one of the lakes, I told the boys at Fort Bragg that I was coming so I shouldn't have any problems with the locals. As for time I'd wager an hour maybe a little more." Abe replied, "Something seems a little rotten about the whole thing. Me being summoned to Chile while you had to face FACT alone, I assume it went as badly as we predicted it might."

"FACT got a new member, the proverbial thorn in my ass Tony Stark." Melissa answered, "You know if I was like Osborne I would have tried to kill him on multiple occasions by now. That alone should indicate that I'm not some evil mastermind trying to take over the world."

"Ah he'll see that you're not all that bad once you thwart a major crisis, I'm sure ever SHIELD Director has gone through this before." Abe stated

"Well I he does have that charity fundraiser scheduled, maybe I should…Abe something just flew past me window." Melissa announced

"Well it is New York, lots of flying things fly past windows." Abe joked before an explosion sounded on the other end of the line, "Melissa." he yelled, "Melissa come in. Fuck." he cursed, "Fuck." he replied.

Blizzard begun to unpack the food the team had ordered when there was a loud knock on the door. Turning and eyeing the door suspiciously he went over and checked what was going on through the camera feed mounted above the entrance only to see static and a red warning stating; Camera Link Terminated. Tapping on the Intercom all he got was static; it looked like Shocker hadn't got communications up and running again yet. Reaching for his belt Blizzard removed a collapsible Taser Stave and fired up the tip, something was going on and it sure as hell seemed like a home invasion, although he mused the person who would attack them here was either brave, arrogant or an idiot, possibly even a fusion of all three. As he stalked forward there was a trio of thumps on the door followed by a whining sound.

"What the hell?" Blizzard asked before the discs detonated throwing him back into the swimming pool with an almighty splash, the stave discharging electricity across the surface. Tiger Shark reached in from the side and grabbed the floundering Blizzard before placing him on the side.

"Chinese Food to strong for you?" he joked

"No we're under attack." Blizzard replied as four figures walked through the door. The leader was clad in armor that looked as if it had been salvaged from the middle ages, if the middle ages had arm mounted energy shields and a pair of shoulder guns sticking out from the metal. His comrades couldn't have looked more modern, Blizzard noticed that the disc-thrower was dressed in skin tight orange and black Lycra with a high tech gauntlet and visor as well as a motley collection of discs, boomerangs, short spears and orbs on his belt and arms. The third member was female dressed in green insectile armor, with a large antenna sticking out of the right side of her head. Blizzard didn't recognize any of them although the forth member was all too familiar, ever the villain, the last man on the team was Cyclone, wisps of wind already blowing around his feet.

"Okay you made your dramatic entrance." Black Mamba hissed, "Now put your hands up, turn round and bend over so we can kick you out of our house." she warned

"We didn't come to fight." the leader of the intruders announced, "At least not till you've contemplated our offer." he added, "Join us and you will be spared the pain of being destroyed, we'll even let you watch we rip Gold and her servants to pieces as we the Thunderbolts liberate the world from her tyranny."

"Did you miss the last three weeks of well everything." Mamba asked as Blizzard snuck off towards the equipment storage locker. The man in orange cocked his head and threw a disc, the projectile ricocheting off the roof and floor before landing on the door and freezing it, creating a thick layer of ice between the Thunderbolt's equipment and the bolts themselves. "Irony huh Blizzard." the man snickered in an accented voice, "There is only one true master of the Thunderbolts and he has ordered that you imposters be destroyed."

"Well are you guys doing hero type stuff?" Tiger Shark asked as he saw something move in the kitchen, "Do you have dental and will we be paid the same wage as say a federal agent."

"How can you even think about accepting their offer?" Black Mamba said before glaring at Tiger Shark as he ground his teeth. "We will let you live." the armoured man announced, "That is all you need."

"It's tempting but I really think that's not a real knock out deal." Bison snorted as he came charging from the kitchen, the holo-projector flashing revealing his bestial form under the disguise he wore. Slamming into the group, he tossed the armoured man up in the air, the metal he wore smashing into a reinforced wall before rounding on the others. The insectile woman squeezed her hands and Bison was suddenly struck by a hail of metallic debris as Cyclone and the man in orange turned on the others. The armoured man got to his feet and removed his helmet revealing a shaven head and deep blue eyes coupled with a wicked smile. "Thunderbolts kill." he ordered the others.

Shocker set down the tool kit on the roof besides the circuit breakers, he had decided to utilize the thick insulating overalls that were hung up in the maintenance room. Opening the box he immediately saw what the problem was, somebody had placed some kind of remote shut down relay on the different power supplies. With it individual systems within the house could be shut down from a fair distance away. The device was vaguely spherical but also contained insect like legs and a probing mouthpiece, probably for data extraction, Shocker mused but nothing that couldn't be taken out with a few good whacks with a socket wrench. As he reached over to the tool kit an acrid smell entered his nostrils and the atmosphere took on a charged nature, something reeked and from the rapidly warming area on the rooftop it was also giving off a massive amount of energy. Wrapping his fingers round the wrench Shocker turned and came face to face with the source of the energy, a humanoid figure wrapped in black Perspex apart from the face which was covered in an oxygen mask, the eyes replaced with glowing red LED's in an interesting triangular pattern. What disturbed Shocker the most about this foul creature was that its back was writhing and twisting with long tendrils that ended in club like structures, all of which were haemorrhaging electricity so much that miniature lightning bolts arched among the gathered array if the tips got to close.

"So why are you on this roof and more importantly were you the saboteur that placed those?" Shocker asked pointing at the devices attached to the circuit breaker. The creature just growled a low electric growl before shooting out it's tendrils all at once, Shocker knocked the first back before getting a quick zap of electricity, the overalls reducing the intensity from a near fatal amount to something akin to brushing up against an electric fence. Ducking and rolling Shocker managed to avoid the follow up nineteen tentacles, the collective surge draining the energy from the circuit breakers, causing the tiny relay to drop off, its legs wriggling as it tried to right itself. "Okay Mr. I cause Power Blackouts last chance, tell me why you're here or I start pulling punches." Shocker asked with false bravado. His opponent reached out with a black covered hand and grabbed his arm funnelling some of the energy it had drained into Shocker's sleeves before leaving a nasty burn. Shocker recoiled before reaching into the tool box hoping to find something that would help him survive this ordeal.

Scorcher sat on her bed with her laptop, opening the page labelled Mutants: Why their here and what they want. Clicking on origins she scrolled down before seeing a picture taken from New Guinea of a huge formation of crystals. The caption read that the gem stone had mutagenic properties, however there were risks, powering former mutants with these Terrigen Mists could be tricky, even send their powers into overdrive which was not necessarily a good thing. But at least it was something, the image was almost identical to the one she had recovered from Marblehead AIM Facility, something that burnt inside her like a fire. In addition there was no mention of how to create the mist that caused mutation but there were other matters to deal with. As she clicked print the computer screen froze before all the lights turned off and the power died.

"SHIELD is so cheap can't even pay for electricity." Scorcher moaned using the lap-tops screen to illuminate her room. Reaching for the draw next to her bed she removed a spray can and a lighter as well as a roll of duct tape. Even though her weapons were locked in the Thunderbolt equipment locker Scorcher was dammed if she was going to be caught without a weapon, and while simple it was better then nothing. Behind her the computer spluttered and exploded in a shower of shards, throwing the room into complete darkness save for an eerie pink glow radiating out of where the laptop's screen had been.

"Okay groovy mood crystals aside, what's wrong with this picture?" Scorcher asked herself, "Creepy Power Cut - Check, Unstable group of people with super-powers - Check, Something Possibly Nasty and Hideous crawling around - Well I suppose Tiger Shark and Bison fill that role quite nicely so check. Looks like it's going to be one of those classic horror type movies." she finished. Looking around she saw a brief flash of pink as two more crystals flew towards her. Ducking and weaving she dodged the first and felt the second slash past her cheek cutting it open before embedding on the back wall. Seconds later crystals were flying from all directions lighting up the room as Scorcher took cover at the foot of the bed waiting for the projectiles to stop flying before making her move. From behind her something cold rubbed against her neck and Scorcher looked up to see a six foot long crystalline blade held at her throat, the woman holding the sword covered in pink crystals, the gem stones making up a transparent leotard that tightly wrapped around her dark skin.

"Stand up." the woman ordered, Scorcher did as she was told keeping her finger on the nozzle for the improvised Flamethrower, "Now stand still witch." the woman announced, "It's time for your execution."

"Wait?" Scorcher pleaded, "I'll do anything, just don't kill me." From somewhere in the darkness a voice chuckled, "Good, good, Rose Quartz release her and help the others." it commanded, "I can deal with Ms. Worthing"

Bison struggled against the hail of metallic objects being thrown at him by the woman in green armor. Every step he took felt like he was being ripped apart but he had to make it to her position. Cyclone had pinned Blizzard and Black Mamba to the wall and the man with the shaven head was moving into position so that he could line up a pair of execution shots with his shoulder mounted guns. With a grunt he smashed through a microwave that was aimed at his face and reached the woman smacking her aside before charging at Cyclone tackling him in the back and smashing through the front door outside onto the lawn, the charred corpses of security agents littered around the mansion's grounds.

"Bison Bro." Cyclone said as he wiggled out of the larger man's grasp. "Come on buddy for the old team's sake I don't want to kill you."

"You were happy to betray us to the Enchantress." Bison snorted, "As far as I'm concerned the fact we served together on the F5 team means nothing to me.

"Suit yourself." Cyclone replied summoning a front of wind that sent Bison flying back into the house. Looking up he saw Shocker fending off a nest of electrified tendrils with a long handled crowbar, the snaking appendages occasionally snaking past and jabbing him in the face and arms. Cyclone grinned before elevating himself to the roof level and summoning another wind blast knocking the hammer out of Shocker's hands. The tentacle opponent turned to look at Cyclone before turning back to Shocker as he smashed the creature in the face. As Shocker made contact he felt as if his skin was being torn by thousands of maggots, quickly retracting his hand, the skin charred off and the muscle smoking. His target turned and struck with all twenty tentacles suspending the Thunderbolt in an energy field before propelling him down through the concrete roof and the first and second floors before landing with a crash into a sofa in the lounge.

"You're welcome." Cyclone spat as the tentacled creature growled at him before crawling down into the house

Tiger Shark and Black Mamba had moved into the kitchen taking cover behind the desks and worktops as the man in orange and the woman in green fired lethal projectiles at them or caused entire draws of cutlery to upend themselves on the two Thunderbolts. Somewhere behind them Bison lay restrained by debris from the roof with Shocker laying prone and possibly unconscious nearby as Cyclone and a hideous looking creature advanced on them. Off in the atrium Blizzard was playing a deadly game with the leader of the team, throwing debris at him while avoiding plasma blasts from the villain's shoulder mounted guns.

"How's your throwing arm?" Tiger Shark asked Mamba, she shrugged as they shifted down the unit they were using as a somewhat ineffective shield against enemy projectiles. "Okay I'm going to open this." he said gesturing at the unit he was crouched behind, and your going to throw it as far as you can, hopefully it will cause some damage and will defiantly cause a distraction." he added wrapping his hand around the handle, before opening the door revealing the pumpkin bomb concealed there, a red light glowing indicating that it was armed. Grabbing it Mamba threw the explosive directly at the leader of the opposite team as the man in orange leapt and intercepted the grenade before throwing it back, the device exploding sending both Black Mamba and Tiger Shark sprawling.

Blizzard saw the explosion, the blast keeping him from seeing the woman advancing behind him until it was almost too late to dodge the massive crystal sword she swung, his clumsy dodge sending him into the path of one of the enemy team leader's laser blasts, the photonic energy knocking him down, his arms and back burning as one of the gun's fired a beam of energy that kept him restrained as the enemy Thunderbolts towered over their prey. Suddenly a beeping sound could be heard and the enemy team leader tapped a section of his armor on his shoulder. "Yes this is the Thunderbolts." he stated, "What you've succeeded and you're sure that it's her. No okay then their deaths will serve no purpose. Head to point omicron and we'll regroup their before SHIELD retaliates." he clicked the armor again. "You just got a reprieve; the death of one more important then you had spared you this time. I suggest that you don't attempt any revenge action or you will find yourselves in death's embrace." He looked over at the woman clad in crystal who quickly summoned a massive structure of glowing pink quartz around them before the structure retracted into the earth leaving Thunderbolts in the ruined shell of their mansion.

"Super Villains, so damm dramatic." Blizzard announced as he attempted to stand before collapsing back onto the floor.

Dallas and Chen sat in the troop bay of the lead Grizzly APC, Abe had eventually got through to the main SHIELD comm. line and had ordered everyone to Avengers Tower. Dallas figured that it had something to do with the massive explosions that had rocked the city and had tried to reach the Thunderbolts before rolling out in an attempt to save time but as she got closer to the Rhode Island Complex where the team was based it seemed that New York hadn't been the only area hit be terrorists. All around the complex there were darkened houses and people sitting outside with lanterns and candles, a few waved and yelled at the convoy but most glumly clutched electronic items or cradled their heads in open palms.

"Chen what would you say had happened here?" Dallas asked, "I'd say an EMP pulse but that really is your expertise."

"There is no excess radiation in the area, it's almost as if the whole area was cut off from modern conveniences at a certain time, these APCs are proof that whatever did this is long gone or extremely localized like the eye of a hurricane." Chen replied as the APCs pulled up outside the ruins of Thunderbolt Mansion.

"Well that may be the reason they didn't respond to our earlier communications." Dallas stated, "Captain," she said to the SHIELD units riding alongside them, "form a defensive perimeter." she ordered as Chen opened the rear door and stepped out of the Grizzly. Walking into the grounds he barley noticed the bodies of the dead agents, although he did recognize the acrid smell of burning flesh, as he ducked into the mansion. The Thunderbolts had all recovered by the time he had pulled them out of the house while Dallas and Scorcher, who had somehow avoided any major injuries, retrieved their equipment.

"Who did this?" Dallas asked.

"The Thunderbolts, or at least another group called the Thunderbolts." Shocker announced, "Check the local sub-station." he added, "I found a shut-down node on our circuit breakers, my guess is that they shut down the whole neighbourhood to prevent people calling in about the disturbance."

"We didn't get any names." Scorcher lied convincingly, she had got one name but had her own reasons for keeping it secret.

"We have one." Bison grunted causing Scorcher to flinch, "Cyclone, the guy who was on the Thunderbolts for a while was with the team that attacked us."

"The weird thing is that they nearly killed us but at the last moment decided to leave us where we were, still breathing and everything." Black Mamba added, "They said a death had spared us but they didn't say who."

Dallas looked at Chen before bowing her head, "There was an attack on Avengers Tower, a missile attack from an unknown attacker. The target was the Director's office, when the dust settled emergency teams found a burnt corpse of a woman. Abe's been notified and is heading as has Tony Stark who has agreed, albeit unwillingly to take control of SHIELD until we know more. Everyone's being called out to help search although you guys look beaten up so I can understand if you want to sit this out."

"Tell me she was anywhere else but in her office." Shocker pleaded

"The corpse was found near a sonic harness, DNA if we can recover any will tell us more but everyone believes that Melissa Gold is missing," Chen answered his voice not masking his emotions well enough, "and most likely presumed dead."


	9. Regime Change

The packing crate was heaved off of the ferry, mist trickily winding itself around the bulky men as they heaved and swore before placing it on the ground in front of Tony Stark. "As promised, the very thing you always wanted." one of the dock workers grunted. Tony quickly ripped the lid open using a phenomenal amount of strength to see a woman inside, bound down and gagged although she was still trying to struggle out of her prison.

"What do you think Cap." Tony asked as another figure walked out of the gloom, "I know you and I have had our differences but surely this is a crowning moment." The man stepped out into view of the woman dressed in Captain America's costumes but the woman recognized the face as another man's, one who defiantly didn't deserve to wear that costume.

"Well done my puppet." the man announced, "You see Melissa you were nothing, just a corpse sitting on my throne until I could reclaim it. Those you trusted betrayed you and eventually you ended up here. But I won't bury you alone my dear," he added drawing a pistol and shooting Tony and the workmen, I am sending all my enemies to the grave tonight not just you." he cackled a soul shaking evil laugh that Melissa knew too well, struggling she bolted up right and opened her eyes to see that she was in an alley way, Avengers Tower burning in the distance.

"A dream, shit it was just another dream." she mumbled picking herself off the floor, the area she was in had a run-down feeling, graffiti and gang tags scrawled across the walls, rubbish left on the street and rusting fire escapes attached to the building. As she moved Melissa felt the air on her skin and checked her costume, the explosion had burnt massive holes in the fabric, while her boots had melted leaving the soles of her feet exposed to the pavement below. Moving towards the tower something fell out of one of the door-ways and landed with a thud on the pavement, stalking over Melissa saw a young woman, her skin and clothes smelling of alcohol laying face down in the street.

Checking her pulse Melissa propped her up back in the doorways and surveyed the drunk, she was 21 or 22 dressed to expose as much flesh as possible, the black cut down leotard and mini skirt covered little although the thigh high boots probably offered adequate leg protection. Melissa hesitated part of her considered steeling this woman's clothes to replace her charred ensemble while the other part shook it's head at such thoughts. Bowing her head Melissa left the woman where she was, her clothes while still intact offered little more cover or protection then what she was already wearing. As she reached the end of the street Melissa bent down and threw up on the pavement as a sickly sweet smell filled the air, a smell that made the alcohol smell of the woman she had passed seem pleasant. Turning back Melissa had mere seconds to compute what was happening before something heavy and reeking of the smell that had made her wretch knocked her to the floor before injecting something into her arm and carrying her half conscious form away back into the alley.

Shocker was the first to notice the APC convoy slow before they reached the bridge into Manhattan, a few seconds later the four Grizzlies's had come to a stop and the driver and front passenger jumped out and ran for the APC behind them before the following three armoured vehicles headed past them as fast as they could. "What got into them?" Tiger Shark mused as Dallas kicked open the rear troop door before beckoning Shocker to follow her before both of the Thunderbolts hopped into the front of the APC.

"Got something on Comms." Dallas stated, "It's Abe, MACH VI this is Vantage in convoy Lightning we have some unusual activity going on, is there anything you can tell us from SHIELD HQ." she asked.

"I just left the tower Stark has taken over and he's already reshuffling the deck. All met-powered agents employed by Melissa are being detained for analysis. All active SHIELD agents have been ordered to sever ties to the SHIELD sponsored Avengers, Task Force HAMMER and the Thunderbolts as well as independent agents such as the Sexton and Taskmaster." Abe informed her, "Stark's deployed his own Avengers to hunt down the Thunderbolts and bring them in, I'm attempting to lead them on a decoy run but the Grizzly you are in is lo-jacked he can easily trace your position. If you can move out and head to the Ms. Marvellous Strip Club in New Jersey, Melissa installed it as an emergency panic bunker, Fixer removed all records of the set up so it should take some time for Stark to find you."

Dallas clicked the off button for the communications module, technically they had compromised themselves but with all the fire power in the back all SHIELD would recover from the Grizzly was a few burning shards of metal. Hopping out of the vehicle Dallas felt the pavement shake, it was already almost too late Stark's New Avengers were already on their way. Opening the rear troop door she motioned for every one to get out before putting a hand on Scorcher's shoulder and pointing to the pack of four Area of Denial Grenades on her belt. Nodding Scorcher threw the bombs into the front of the Grizzly, the detonator caps placed on a four minute timer as the Thunderbolts lined up along the bridge.

"Chen you're going to have to stay here, your too easy to track." Dallas told him.

"I know be assured Stark will learn nothing from me." Chen replied stoically as Blizzard sealed the rest of the Thunderbolts, save for Tiger Shark, in an icy ball.

"Good Luck." Tiger Shark told Chen, "As soon as we can we'll bust you out." he added pushing the ball of the ice off the edge of the bridge before diving in after it dragging the frozen orb and its contents under the surface. Two minutes later the vibrations caused by the incoming Avengers were so loud that the entire bridge was shaking, thankfully Chen thought, all the civilians had been cleared out of the area by the fleeing SHIELD agents giving him an unobstructed line of fire as the She Hulk and Stature thundered onto the structure. Chen knocked his knuckles together, his fists bursting into radioactive fire as the She Hulk leapt towards him only to get a slam in the face that sent her flying back across the bridge as Stature reached out to swat him. Firing a radioactive pulse into the abandoned vehicles on the structure Chen watched as the cars and trucks detonated in mini mushroom cloud explosions stunning his pursuers. Behind him the AOD Grenades ticked down to zero before exploding, super heating the Grizzly until its metal shell was covered in a layer of glass both inside and out before the heat detonated the diesel gas tank, the explosion engulfing the APC's computer systems and turning them into sand. Satisfied that he had protected his team mates Chen sat down on the ground and put his hands over his head, Tony had won nothing by capturing him as his former nemesis would find out.

Melissa felt the cold table she was laying on through the tears in her costume, her captor had drugged her but thanks to her more then human fortitude it had only paralyzed her muscles, she could still think and more importantly hear, and that was an advantage that she defiantly needed.

"What have you brought me Bushmaster?" a voice hissed, Melissa recognized it as the Cobra and the mention of Bushmaster suggested that her captors were the Serpent Society.

"Just some street walker, she has the mutagenic structure that we require for the genetic reconfiguration." Bushmaster replied, Melissa thought this information was a blessing and a curse rolled into one. Thankfully none of the Society had realized who she was but the talk of genetic reconfiguration was less then welcome, she guessed since the metamorphosis that her bodies original owner, a Colombian Drug Runner named Quetzal, had gone through that there was a chance that her abilities were natural and not some technological marvel created by the Power Breaker like her original body's powers.

"She will be thankful for the transformation." a female voice hissed, "These burns would be permanent." Melissa dimly felt somebody touching her legs, charred nerves barley registering the woman's touch.

"Enough Coach Whip." Cobra ordered, "I'd rather she had no physical damage to her body while the nano bots reconfigure mammalian DNA into something more reptilian."

"Shall I put her in with the others?" a third male voice asked, possibly Copperhead, Melissa mused haven't heard from him for a while but then I was in a dark hell dimension for a month. As her brain analyzed the conversation she felt cold hands pick her up and a knobbly shoulder rest under her chin as she was moved off. Quickly she opened an eye just enough to see and saw Cobra, Bushmaster and Coach Whip all engrossed on what looked like a chemistry set filled with a fluorescent green liquid. Noting down the way the man carrying her went Melissa listened for anything that would tell her where she was but all she could hear were heavy footsteps and the occasional gurgle of a water pipe, nothing that allowed her to get an accurate location.

Closing her eyes she felt the man carrying her slow down before the whoosh of a door broke through the silence. Then there was a sharp pain and the whoosh behind her, as the feeling returned to her hands Melissa felt plastic tiles under them and opened her eyes. She was in some kind of large tank, the front clear so observers could look in, not that it would be hard to spot the inhabitants against the white background, there was no cover to hide behind and Melissa dimly recalled that this resembled the prison cell she had been put in before her Thunderbolt days in Rykers Island. At least there she had been alone, there were four people slumped in the room, all of them supporting a large S carved onto their neck, Melissa touched her own and found a similar marking, possibly as a result of the genetic reconfiguration Bushmaster had mentioned. One of the others shifted as she silently tried to back up towards the glass wall behind her, opening his eyes Melissa saw that his human irises had mutated into silted snake eyes.

"Don't worry we won't hurt you." the man stated, "We were captured just like you, my name's Abel." he added holding out a hand. Melissa thought fast, these people were potential allies but revealing her identity may remove any advantage she still had, "Trudy," she announced shaking Abel's hands, "I was waiting for a taxi when they grabbed me from behind." she added as Abel's silted eyes scanned her before he got to his feet, Melissa noticed that his legs and arms seemed more bulky then his body, maybe a possible result of the mutation. "I was the third person thrown in here, Sita here was here before all of us. Melissa followed Abel's gaze to an Indian woman curled in a foetal position, her body covered in smooth brown scales that were beginning to bind her legs together.

"Abel who's the newcomer?" Sita hissed her eyes still human and pleading that this was all a bad dream.

"Trudy," Abel announced pushing Melissa forward.

"Did you see my brother?" Sita asked, "We were captured together but I haven't seen him since."

"Sorry." Melissa replied as the other two hybrids uncurled, one a Hispanic woman had a blue forked tongue that flickered in and out as well as massive bony ridges sprouting from her eye while the final individuals was a man whose skin had black blotches of scales forming over his skin as well as a single serpent like eye. Melissa looked at her fellow prisoners and shuddered she didn't know how long each of them had been here but soon she would be in a similar state as them. Silently she hoped that Abe would come and rescue her but something made her doubt it, going with this instinct she whistled giving her powers a test. Nothing happened, it seemed like she needed her sonic harness just like old times but with no way to acquire or build one she would have to find another way out.

Tiger Shark bobbed to the surface surveying the area along the coastline of Jersey City before diving back down and un-wedging the ball of ice from the river's bed allowing it to float back to the surface. With a swift knock the ice shattered and the Thunderbolts flopped out of the debris, the later washed away by the tide. Despite the trek along the Hudson only taking five minutes the Thunderbolts were exhausted the either through the lack of any fresh air or being locked in a cold environment had defiantly taken their toll and it was agreed by all that the best course of action was to get to the hidden base before the Avengers picked up on their trail again.

Two minutes later the Thunderbolts were standing outside the Ms. Marvellous Strip Club, music blaring despite the late hour and a massive bouncer glowering at them as they figured the best course of action to get inside. Eventually Bison decided that the best way to achieve this was to flaunt his size brushing aside the security before heading inside. As the club's name suggested the strippers were all dressed like the titular character of the clubs name and the crowd was large and varied. Ignoring the dancers Dallas led the team up to the bar and tapped on the bar-tender, a massive tattooed woman crammed into a Ms. Marvel Leotard on the shoulder.

"What do you folks want?" she growled.

"I'll have a pitcher of Fallen Vulture." Dallas replied pointing to the tap with a comic image of Adrien Tooms doing a nose dive into a concrete block, "And a shot glass of Goliath." she added. The Bar Tender widened her eyes before asking, "We're out of Goliath can I offer you a substitute?"

"A bottle of Omega Red then." Dallas replied, the bartender fished out a bottle filled with a red liquid, "Third cubicle in the Men's." she grunted before going back to the regular patrons who were huddled at the end of the bar away from the strangely dressed and imposing individuals. Reaching the men's room Dallas opened the door to the third cubicle to find an old man sitting on the toilet. "Get off," she snarled before cuffing the man and throwing him out. Closing the door she poured the bottle of Omega Red down the toilet and flushed the chain, the water turning the colour of blood before the wall behind opened up to reveal a set of stairs down into the bowls of the club. "Come on in." she told the Thunderbolts as they followed her into the cubicle, the old man deciding it was best to take his waste control needs elsewhere. As the Thunderbolts entered the building the first thing that they noticed was how new the structure was with a few computer monitors, a single toilet and a hastily installed kitchen the only real commodities the place had to offer.

"Wow this is the cutting edge of SHIELD technology." Scorcher commented, everyone ignored her instead clustering around one of the computer screens, a flashing message declaring that the base had received a new message. Quickly checking for spy ware and viruses the message was opened, the contents a few words and a video link. The message simply read, Video of Avenger Tower Bombers. Clicking on the link Dallas diverted the image onto all four computer screens so everyone could spread out and still see the image.

The first clip was of a dark room, well furnished, the curtains drawn and the sofa covered with a cloth. Then a man in orange and black appeared on the screen before picking up the camera that it was being filmed on "This is a message from the Thunderbolts, my name is Marksman." the man announced, "And that is Valour, Rose Quartz and Magnet Moth." he added pointing first to the man in armor, then the woman in the crystalline leotard. "You may already know the former Thunderbolt Cyclone who has seen the light." he added swinging the camera onto Cyclone as the man with tendrils walked past in the background, "That was Grid and our final member is the Caracara," he twisted the camera to show a men dressed in brown body armor, his arms supporting massive wings and his head covered in a US Air Force Helmet. "We are the nation's saviours; we say that the collapse of the registration act wasn't enough and demand that all super humans leave the employ of the Government. We have already targeted the corrupt heart of the organization with the assassination of Melissa Joan Gold. If our demands are not answered by visible results more people will die." the image suddenly erupted into static and snow before going black.

"Well that was enlightening." Scorcher remarked, "But I can tell you where they are but I can tell you that they are lying about their cause."

"How can you tell?" Vantage asked.

"Because I made enough videos like that when I was with the Mutant Liberation Front to know when somebody is reading from a script. There wasn't enough emotion to announce that as their real cause, even when they mentioned Melissa's death which should be a major turning point." Scorcher explained, "It's just a decoy to cover the fact that they were hired mercenaries doing a job."

"It did tell us something." Blizzard announced, "Now we have the names of the people who tried to kill us, we have the name of Melissa's murderer and that's all we need to find them and repay them in kind."

"Melissa wouldn't want us to kill them." Shocker replied, "You should know that Blizzard, this is up on You Tube, by know almost every law enforcement agency will be looking for these Thunderbolts, if we kill them then we're back to stage one, lounging around in the Raft, Anyway a quick kill is the easy way out for them, I want to see them rot in jail for their actions."

"Who said anything about a quick kill?" Tiger Shark asked grinding his teeth. "It depends who get's them first I for one think some arms need to come off and some heads smashed."

"No." Vantage ordered, "For know we are also being hunted, let see how Stark play's this out, Melissa warned her inner circle that Tony might try a coup, this seems a little too convenient to be coincidence."

"You suggesting that Stark's responsible?" Bison asked, "Ain't he meant to be a hero?"

"Being a Hero is a matter of perception, we just need to see what's Stark's is." Vantage replied.

Melissa heard and felt the footsteps long before their owners arrived, she had talked to the other prisoners listening to their stories in an attempt to learn how she could use them to aid in their escape. She had also picked at her own skin, the burnt flakes lifting off to reveal gleaming green scales underneath, at first this had repulsed her but eventually she had seen the beauty even begun to enjoy the sense of rejuvenation every time she sloughed a piece of skin off. Her hair too was changing, it had been not long after she had arrived when she had been resting her head against the wall when she had discovered her roots fusing to create long dreadlocks that hung tentacle like down her back.

"I'm just saying Klaus we may make some money on this. Stark's offering to anyone who can track down the Thunderbolts." Rattler announced as the five existing members of the Serpent Society reached the cage.

"It's two risky." Cobra hissed, "What if Stark tracks us and find's out what we're doing."

"It doesn't matter." Coach Whip announced, "They are more then half done, even the new girl is quickly taking on the desired features."

"And you think Charmer is ready to keep them under control?" Cobra snapped, "They still have human minds, there not reptilian enough, I won't risk my plans for half a millions dollars just because we know where the traitor Black Mamba is."

"It would be the perfect revenge." Copperhead announced, "Let SHIELD be our engine of vengeance rather then risk being wounded or even defeated by her and the other turncoat villains." Cobra squeezed his hands into fists and looked into the cage; Naga was the most well developed, her legs fused into a tail her hair thickened into a cobra's hood covered in brown scales. Boa was coming along nicely, her human skin had been retained but the scales on her arms had widened into massive bone spikes and her tongue and eyes were that of a snake. Shield Nose had grown larger and his body was developing armoured plates while Indigo was now a uniform dark blue his fingers morphed into claws and his cheeks supporting jutting chin blades. Even the newest recruit Green Mamba was coming along nicely, her skin was peeling off to reveal green scales and her hair was beginning to change into long snake like tendrils.

"Alright I'll do it." he snapped picking up the phone that Coach Whip carried. "Hello I'd like to report the position of a fugitive." he hissed, "Yes I'll hold." he added, "This better be worth it." he added licking his lips with his forked tongue.

* * *

><p>My undying support to anyone who can figure out the real identities of Valour, Marksman, Rose Quartz, Grid, Magnet Moth and Caracara. Good Luck and remember to leave your comments and criticisum about this and anything else I have written.<p>

Impurest Cheese


	10. Enter the Avenger

Tony Stark landed outside the Ms. Marvellous Strip Club his Avenger team gathered around him waiting for his orders. With the SHIELD team of Avenger's neutralized and Melissa's Black Ops Team, consisting of two people who were his friends the Thunderbolts were the last Remenant of Gold's Regime to dismantle and thanks to one quick phone call he was about to achieve a swift and relatively bloodless takeover. As for the fee he had to pay, it wouldn't be long until Cobra slipped up and did something criminal again, and when he did he was going straight to the Raft and Tony would liberate the half a million he had to pay the Serpent Society.

"So this is the foul den of sin that the villain's are hiding in." Orion asked his armor glowing with pin point flecks of light.

"Looks can be deceiving." Hank Pym announced flying around Stature's shoulders, "Melissa brought the building using one of SHIELD's shell companies, apart from that we don't know anything, Fixer's security programming is pretty robust but I'll crack it soon."

"For now we'll just have to crack the Thunderbolt's skulls." She Hulk announced, "I still have radiation burns from Radioactive Man's last stand on the bridge."

"So what's the plan boss?" Hurricane asked as he clicked his fingers underneath the self made armor he wore. "Smash and Grab or Something more subtle."

"Neither we walk in and arrest them?" Tony replied walking past the bouncer who decided it would be better for him not to get involved with any on the freaks that seemed to be walking into the establishment this night. "I bet Carol's turning in her grave because of this." Tony stated scanning the patrons and staff the majority of them ignoring them, with a few drunken individuals whistling unadvised cat calls.

"See them?" Stature asked.

"No but the bartender has been flagged as Robin Braxton AKA the Gladiatrix, she was a member of the Grapplers." Tony announced, "Anyone think that's too much of a coincidence considering who was the most famous member of that group." he added, "Hey Bartender." he yelled getting Robin's attention, "I'm looking for a group of felons have you seen them?" he asked.

"No criminals here, except maybe some pervs who should know better." Robin replied as she dropped one hand under the bar to turn on a silent warning for the base under the bar and pick up a beer glass. "Why don't you all have a drink on the house of course." she added trying not to lose her temper and slug the armoured SHIELD agent around the face.

"Let me put it this way, how much will it cost for me to see your additional facilities." Tony asked

"A warrant." Robin answered, "And I'd suggest you get one before I call the cops." Tony was about to reply with a smart mouthed comment when his armor communications module beeped to acknowledge he had a message waiting. "Excuse me I have to take this." he told Robin before walking to the club's entrance and flipping the module open to revel the results of the autopsy on the dead woman in Melissa's office.

"JARVIS has anybody else seen these results?" Tony asked.

"No Sir results are confidential for Director's eyes only." the computer informed him, "What do you want to do with them sir?"

"Purge results from all systems and start a city wide scan for unusual acoustic anomalies." Tony ordered before turning back to the bar as Robin put down the glasses, "Time to deliver the hangover of the century to these punks," he told his Avengers, "I want the Thunderbolts alive and able to talk, I will find Gold if it's the last thing I do."

Cobra stalked into the room with the cages and surveyed the development of the new recruits; all five were coming along nicely but he wasn't taking any chances that's why he had employed a sixth member to his team, a low level mercenary named the Snake Charmer who had the uncanny ability to control reptiles. He still beloved that handing Black Mamba over was still risky and the new recruits and their undeveloped abilities were all the more reason to clear out as soon as the money landed in their account. Peering in he saw the newest member the Green Mamba looking back at him before she knocked on the glass before pressing her hand to her ear. Going to the console he clicked on the microphone activation in the cell before snarling, "What do you want?"

"How's the negotiations with Stark going?" Melissa asked.

"None of your business." Cobra hissed leaning to switch off the microphone.

"What is I could give you an advantage against Stark and SHIELD." Melissa statedm "Would you take it?"

"What would a street walker like you know?" Cobra hissed.

"I'm not a street walker before her death I was the body double to Director Melissa Gold." Melissa lied, "My genetic structure was laced with her DNA so we appeared identical."

"And this helps us how?" Cobra jeered

"Make me human and show me off on You Tube, threaten me and Stark will give you anything for my safety. He might be generous enough to throw in a tropical island or two." Melissa bribed.

"And what do you get out of it?" Cobra hissed.

"Melissa left secrets behind her that I know, once I'm free I can sell them to anybody willing to pay for them." Melissa announced, she felt surprised how easy it was to play the villain. "All you need is a syringe, a video camera and a good script. I'll do the rest."

Abe swept under the bridge as the Thunder Hawk rounded the corner already firing stun rounds from the main canon, the blasts striking cars and other electrical devices causing them to short out. Coming up the other side Abe drew level with the perusing helicopter and ripped the cannon off the vehicles chin before crushing it into a metal ball and throwing it in the river. The Thunder Hawk's pilot glared at him before veering back towards Avengers Tower, another pair of similar aircraft already taking off and locking onto Abe's location. Abe sighed he'd already taken out four Thunder Hawks as well as disabling a pair of Gad-Fly UACV's but Stark and SHIELD still seemed to want to chase him.

"Abe there's message for you." the Fixer AI, that the Thunderbolt of the same name had installed into the MACH VI Armor, stated, "You'll want to see this." Abe nodded and dive-bombed into the Hudson hoping that SHIELD wouldn't follow him with divers or patrol boats. Switching everything over the life support save data storage Abe activated his HUD's video function. What he saw made his heart stop, strapped to the chair and looking like she was beaten within an inch of her life was Melissa.

"Tony Stark." a voice hissed, "As you can see we have Melissa Gold alive unlike your company claims." Abe watched as Coach Whip strode into the room and gave a Melissa a quick lash with her whip. "We know that you need her out of the picture which is why we're threatening to leak this tape to wiki-leaks and You Tube if you don't cooperate. Pay us 5 million dollars to the account you used last time, within thirty minutes and we will not press send." the camera panned round to Copperhead leaning against a computer displaying a youtube upload link. "Once that's done we will call with instructions." the voice announced before the link died.

"How many other data streams has this been sent too?" Abe asked.

"None." Fixer replied, "It came to your armor only despite being addressed to Tony Stark. There is something else." he added rewinding the tape and filtering out the sound and enhancing the sub sonic frequency before playing it again.

"Abe this message if for your ears only." Melissa said. Abe figured she must be running on residual sonic energy that her body had absorbed from wearing her sonic harness. "I have a plan, the Serpent Society won't hurt me, they believe that this is a scam against Tony Stark. What I need you to do is to head to Brooklyn to Voelker Industries and talk to Sidewinder, get him to activate the teleportation devices in the King Cobra, Copper Head, Coach Whip, Rattler and Bushmaster and send them to the SHIELD base under Ms. Marvellous. From there I'll finish off Tony's little coup, he may have turned FACT against me but the SHIELD Military Oversight Board will still side with me especially when I remind them about the Skrull Invasion among other things. Don't worry about me I promise that I'll be fine, as soon as I'm free I'll call you." Melissa told Abe before the video went dark a second time.

"Fixer plot a course to Voelker Industries." Abe ordered as a file on the security company replaced the video link, "Preferably one where I'm not chased by Thunder Hawk's all the way." he added sarcastically.

Dallas watched as Bison moved one of the computers into the middle on the room, a sort of makeshift cover for when Stark and his Avenger's broke in. From up above the sounds of a struggle could be heard as Gladiatrix fought against the Avengers, from the sound of it, it wouldn't be long before she would be knocked out although the occasional grunts from other voices showed that the former Grappler wouldn't go down easily. Dallas checked her ammo and realized she was down to one magazine, it would be better to simply chuck the gun at the invaders rather then fire it at them. Leaning against the wall something behind her clicked before four sections of the wall opened up displaying a complete armoury of weapons.

"Was Melissa by any change channelling Q from James Bond?" Scorcher asked as she walked over before picking up a heavy Thermobaric M72 LAW stroking the barrel as she ran her hands over it.

"Wow Scorcher you're channelling your inner nerd." Tiger Shark sneered as he and Black Mamba walked over, the later throwing a P90 to Dallas before removing an M240 painted in red and black camouflage for herself. Scorcher was about to reply when the sound of fighting above them stopped and a bright light could be seen at the end of the steps down into the base.

"Positions." Dallas ordered, "Make Melissa proud that you were her Thunderbolts." she added as Blizzard ducked by the end of the steps waiting to freeze the passageway as soon as the Avengers entered. There was a thump as the door fell in and the sound of foot-steps down the stairs as Tony Stark stomped down before surveying the room.

"Stark came alone?" Bison asked.

"This is your last chance surrender." Tony told the Thunderbolts, "You will be treated with the respect that you deserve and I'll do everything in my power to keep you out of prison."

"Where's Chen then?" Blizzard asked as Tony walked past him.

"He's a hard-line Gold supporter for the country's safety he's been taken to a secure facility." Tony spluttered trying to find an elegant and less threatening way to say, "Chen's locked up and guess what your probably going to the Raft too."

Blizzard cocked his head and looked at Dallas who lowered her P90 a little signalling what she wanted him to do. With a well he leapt at Iron Man latching onto his arm and freezing the SHIELD Director's left arm before blasted with a Repulsor blast. "So disappointing." Tony stated as Bison charged in, with a second Repulsor Strike Bison went down and revealed Shocker his gauntlets charged right behind him. "Sorry Stark but we refuse." he leered firing and catching his target in a beam of sound, the blast shattering the ice and the gauntlet underneath it leaving exposed nano weave and flesh underneath. Tony staggered back as Blizzard got to his feet and closed in on him again. "Avenger's Assemble." he yelled before the whole room went dark, the Thunderbolts attack postponed.

"What is this stuff?" Bison snorted, "And where the hell is Stark?" he added as something shining shot past. Tiger Shark grunted as whatever it was struck him before digging into his flesh. "Somebody's shooting at us." he warned the others as more of the illuminated arrows flew past digging into the walls. Scorcher peered through the darkness and saw the shooter silhouetted as he fired another shot, holstering her flamethrower she brought out a flare gun and fired seven shots, the burning red projectiles lighting up the room. "Who said you should be afraid of the dark?" she asked as the shooter recoiled blinded by the light as Blizzard froze the ceiling, the light catching off massive ice spikes and lighting the entire room up and revealing Stark's Avengers. In an instant a hail of bullets was unleashed as Mamba and Vantage opened fire causing their foes to scatter and split up.

"Thunderbolts take them down hard." Dallas yelled as she targeted Stature who grew larger and larger until her head was scrapping the ceiling, her attention absorbed by Tiger Shark who leapt at her hand biting into the flesh before being squashed by the giant woman. "Why the hell do hideous things always try and bite me?" she asked as Tiger Shark kicked and punched her until she lifted her hand again, "Going down once again." she added swatting Tiger Shark across the room, the flying Thunderbolt barley missing Iron Man who was dodging ragged punches and uppercut's thrown at him from Bison before flying out of reach. Bison snarled before being tackled from behind by She Hulk, the green giant attempting to choke slam him as he struggled before throwing her off. "Talk about Rodeo." she announced as Hurricane slid into her, slipping on a frozen trackway laid down by Blizzard who had turned his attention on his old enemy Tony Stark.

"Blizzard come on." Iron Man joked as he flew past the Thunderbolt in question, "How long is it going to be before you start whinging about how I always defeat you?" he asked.

"Maybe you need another touch of frost." Blizzard announced firing up at the ceiling before extending a massive icicle down to trap Iron Man inside. Seconds later a Repulsor Blast shattered the cage before a second smashed into Blizzard, tearing through his Freon Pack and sending the Thunderbolt tumbling. "And cue the moaning." Tony announced as Blizzard picked up an office chair and threw it at him, "Or is this the furniture throwing part of the fight?" he asked as he lowered down to the ground. "Come on Donnie you get one free punch and then your done." Blizzard smiled under his mask and fingered the needle thin ice-pick that he had saved from the Thunderbolts home. Lunging he plunged the pick into the Uni Beam Generator causing the Iron Man to stagger backwards. "Hey you can't do that." Tony spluttered as Bison barged She Hulk off him and charged at the stricken Avenger only to be felled by an arrow fired by Orion, the Olympian quickly stringing another as Bison edged towards Iron Man.

"Hey Star Man," Tanya yelled raking the man with half an M240 clip, "What's your story and do you have a date?" she asked. Orion narrowed his eyes before answering, "I'm not currently betrothed."

"Bummer," Mamba announced, "because that makes this harder." she added projecting strands of dark-force energy at Orion before she felt it yanked away by a woman dressed in black. "Who the hell are you? Wait I know your that Cloak and Dagger Villain Ecstasy." she joked, "No wait the Silhouette from the New Warriors."

"It's Sepulchre." the woman snarled, "But rest assured," she added dark energy wrapping round her fingers, "I know who you are Black Mamba and I know how your powers work, about how you kill. It's time you saw what they see before you crush the life out of them." she added firing a stream of energy straight at Tanya, the energy wrapping around her, her choking lost among the sounds of battle.

Seth Voelker heard the tap on the window as he stirred from his sleep, while he didn't make a habit of sleeping at work, sometimes things got out of hand and the recent chaos after Gold's death had forced him to secure the vaults containing his client's property instead of making the usual deliveries. He had informed them that due to Law Enforcement being busy he would have to keep them an extra night and had cringed when he told them that there would be no charge for this additional storage. The tapping sounded again and he grunted, "Hang on I'm coming." as he smoothed out the suit he wore before looking out. "Oh it's you come in." he added unlocking the large window. "So what can I do for a fugitive tonight." he asked as Abe stepped through taking a last glance to see if the patrolling Thunder Hawks were still following.

"I need your help in locating members of the Serpent Society." Abe announced as Voelker sat down at his desk.

"I have nothing to do with them now, I find association with such criminals bad for business." Seth replied, "Yourself excluded of course."

"Of course." Abe repeated activating his armour's comm. jamming system in case Voelker tried to set him up or call for help, "Cobra, Bushmaster, Coach Whip, Rattler and Copperhead, where are they?" he asked.

"I don't know." Seth replied, "But I figure you want me to check on the old tracker." he added pulling a draw open and removing a large screen. "I suppose the usual co-operation package is what I receive." he moaned, "protection from the society when they are released and that's it."

"If that's all you want." Abe stated, "Melissa remembers her friends and she doesn't leave them in the lurch, if I remember correctly you were having some problems with members of the various gangs in this city ambushing your trucks. You were haemorrhaging money yet you refused to ally with any of them despite numerous death threats. You help us then you can consider the problem dealt with." he offered. "This offer is being recorded by my armor as a form of contract and will be transferred to the main database when Melissa is back in control of SHIELD."

"You speak as if this woman is alive." Seth suggested as he pressed the remote and brought up a map of the city, "From what Stark Enterprises have released she died in an explosion." Dots suddenly lit up the board, one was in Avengers Tower, probably Rachel, Abe thought, another was in the corner of the map in New Jersey, that must be Tanya he stated, interesting at least he had some co-ordinates. Aside from them there were two other results, one lone blip somewhere in the north of the city and a cluster on the Empire State University Campus. Seth pointed a finger, "There are eleven contacts there, five I know but the others are listed as Boa, Charmer, Naga, Indigo, Green Mamba and Shield Nose."

"Send them all." Abe ordered, "This point here," he added tapping the board.

Cobra walked past the chair angrily hissing to himself occasionally giving Melissa dirty looks and staring blankly at the clock on the wall. "Time's up Trudy, Stark's not budging, he hasn't sent any kind of reply."

"But he hasn't come charging in like a maniac either." Melissa announced as what seemed like a heat haze wobbled in front of her before erupting into blue light. Somewhere behind her there was a hissing scream before the light faded revealing blue icy covered walls and the sounds of angry people fighting.

"What where are we?" Bushmaster hissed, Melissa looked around everybody in the Serpent Society who had been guarding her had been teleported as had their prisoners. Obviously the genetic splicing had also involved some transmitter insertions allowing the future recruits to be located where ever they are.

"Stark." Cobra growled, "You," he turned on Melissa, "You set us up somehow."

"Really and when did I have time to do that, it's Tony Stark that betrayed you now go and punch him or something." Melissa ordered, "Or else just stand there and look picturesque, whatever the case do something."

Cobra hissed and cracked his knuckled before pointing at Iron Man as he fired a Repulsor Blast at Blizzard who was clutching an M4 Assault Rifle and popping off a few ineffective shots. "Serpent Society." he commanded, "Attack."


	11. Collapsing into Chaos

Iron Man increased the power of his remaining Repulsor Gauntlet before firing at Blizzard melting the M4 he held. The battle was still hanging in the balance but he was certain that his forces would soon get the upper hand. As he advanced on Blizzard he smacked aside a charging Bison before towering above his foe, the icy Thunderbolt glaring up at him defiantly.

"Any last words before I throw you into the Raft?" Tony asked.

"Duck." Blizzard replied, Iron Man tilted his head before a fist smashed into the back of his head sending him spinning before he eventually slowed and blocked a second blow as Cobra, reared back for a third punch.

"Cobra if isn't it bad enough that you extorted money out of me now your going around trying to kill me." Iron Man announced blocking Cobra's third strike before grabbing the serpentine man's hand and throwing him onto his back.

"We sent you the message." Cobra hissed as he kicked out slamming his boots into Iron Man's chest. "We told you what would happen and you refused to answer."

"I sent the half a million just like you wanted." Iron Man replied as behind him Stature slammed Bush Master into Tiger Shark knocking both the villains onto the floor.

"Not that, the message about Gold, how we would reveal she had survived the explosion." Cobra answered ducking as a star tipped arrow flew past his head.

"I didn't get any message Cobra, but if you know something that I don't share and we'll talk this out like reasonable people." Tony stated.

"She told us it would work." Cobra said amusedly pointing at Melissa as she struggled to free herself from the chair she was tied too.

"Anybody want to untie me." Melissa announced as Tony squeezed his exposed hand into a fist. "I guess not." she answered as Shocker blasted Hank Pym with a close range sonic blast, the power sending the diminutive man slamming into the ground.

"Hank." Stature roared slapping away the ranks of villains at her feet. "Your going to pay for that." she added as she got ready to slam her fist down on Shocker, the Thunderbolt desperately shooting up at her in an attempt to postpone the blow. Scorcher was the only one who acted in time, side stepping past the charging Hurricane before shouldering her launcher, the rocket firing and arching up towards the massive woman. "One barbecued Giant Girl coming right up." she announced as the missile flew towards Stature's neck. Suddenly there was a flash of star-light and the rocket detonated showering the chamber with a massive wave of flame, the roof melting as great chunks of ice slammed down all amongst the combatants before engulfing the room in a grey haze.

Tanya stirred as the last horrible vision dissipated, her crushed lungs beginning to refill with oxygen. Sliding under a collapsed slab of ice, the frozen obstacle supported by the computer desks, melted and twisted by the explosion, she found her adversary Sepulchre emerging from under a loose file of frozen tiles her hands already coursing with dark energy.

"I saw what you wanted me to see." Tanya announced, "It makes no difference, I'll pay for the lives I took, but you won't be the pay-master, you won't get the satisfaction of seeing me break because I'm going to make a difference."

"Maybe you just need another taste?" Sepulchre stated slamming Tanya into the ice behind her and smothering her with dark energy. "In the end when everything has been revealed every Thunderbolt is a monster and I will not let one sit up high and tell me what to do." From off to her left there was a buzzing sound and a bolt of energy slammed into her back, dark energy bubbling back into her body. Twisting Black Mamba broke free and took a long deep breath before a fist impacted with her face as Rattler quickly covered the gap from his firing position to where she had been pinned before powering up his tail.

"Now traitor you will get the execution you've long since deserved." Rattler hissed his words barley audible over the buzzing of his tail. "And once your dead we'll kill the others who abandoned us. Diamondback, Constrictor, Boomslang and Sidewinder will al pay for leaving the Serpent Society." He released the burst of energy, the sound blasting in Tanya's head causing her brain to overload. Rattler cackled and changed the frequency to a lower tone, this one boring through her and making her eyes begin to bleed. As she begun to black out Tanya saw a block of ice explode and Tiger Shark burst out clutching a long pipe that had shattered after Scorcher's missile strike. With a single swing his makeshift weapon slashed through his tail the writhing fifth limb twisting on the floor next to Sepulchre who was beginning to stir. Tiger Shark followed up with a headbutt sending Rattler flying before helping Tanya to her feet.

"Do you know any decent guys?" he asked as Sepulchre summoned a pair of dark-force claws and leapt at his back. Black Mamba quickly spun Tiger Shark round before delivering a kick to the leaping Avenger knocking her back into the unconscious Rattler. "No," she replied, "Well there is this one guy, kind of big, cool fin on his head, do you know him?"

"Sounds familiar." Tiger Shark replied grinning as the pair turned to see more Thunderbolts, Avengers and members of the Serpent Society breaking free of the ice that covered the room. Shocker popped up next to Stature who was beginning to shrink down, looking around he saw a toppled chair with a woman tied to it and worse a massive snake like monster heading towards her. With a swift blast he sent Shield Nose reeling before reaching Melissa quickly snapping the rope and helping her up. "You know boss, if you wanted to play bondage fun you could at least wait for Abe." he joked as Shield Nose advanced before throwing a punch at Shocker, the Thunderbolt ducking under the blow before delivering an energized punch to the snake man's face.

"Shocker be careful. "Melissa announced, "Their civilians infected by the Serpent Society." she lectured looking around the room at the carnage caused by the battle royale, "Find the Snake Charmer and knock him out and they'll come to their senses."

"On it boss." Shocker stated as Melissa ran towards the far end of the unlocked weapon's rack. Iron Man watched and turned to Orion who was busy locked in close combat with Vantage. "Orion take out the runner." Tony ordered as Orion pushed Dallas back before quickly stringing an arrow just as Melissa reached her destination. The projectile flew straight and true as its target reached for a black piece of metal, a red gem set in the centre before placing it over her head. With a flash the arrow detonated, not on human flesh but on a dome of pink energy, as Melissa stood inside her eyes sparking pink before leaping into the fray and tackling Tony before beginning to pummel his armor with sonic enhanced fists.

"Melissa," Tony wheezed as she slammed a fist into his face, "Stop I only had your best intrests at heart."

"Heart?" Melissa replied, "Funny I believe that you traded yours for a mini reactor." she replied. Tony caught her next blow as the Hurricane came charging towards them at full speed. "Liam," he called, "Take her out of here." he ordered as the Avenger intercepted Melissa and ran out the room, the G-Force whistling as Melissa summoned a sonic shield to reduce the speed's effect on her.

Orion turned looking for his next target when something struck him from behind. Turning he saw Boa flexing the massive barbed arms before slashing at him again, dropping the bow he quickly unsheathed a short sword flecked with stars meeting the bone studded blow.

"Fell Beast I implore you to surrender, no creature can best Orion the Hunter." he ordered, Boa responded with a hiss and swung again her third swipe countered before being repulsed, the serpentine woman stumbling. "I warned you monster now face my wrath." Orion yelled lifting his sword for a strike only to find his arms immobilized as whip like appendages wrapped around his hands.

"Not so fast Prince of Hunters." Coach Whip purred, "First you have to deal with me." she added as Boa got to her feet and got ready for a lethal strike, "Go ahead dear take you best shot, kill the insolent Avenger." she ordered as Scorcher and Vantage charged toward the execution.

"Come on Girls that's not how you treat a man." Scorcher appealed as Vantage leapt over Orion's head and slammed her staff into Boa's skull. "Let me show you." she added removing Coach Whip's Visor and throwing it away before dropping a flash bang grenade. The bomb detonated in a flare of light causing Coach Whip to recoil her sensitive eyes blinded before she slipped on a patch of ice knocking herself unconscious as she hit the floor.

"Saved by a maiden." Orion snorted, "I am shamed, by your conquest I shall reclaim my valour." he yelled throwing a punch at Scorcher, the lithe Thunderbolt ducking before delivering a knee to the Avenger's groin. "Consider yourself conquered." Scorcher announced as Vantage delivered a shock to Boa keeping her immobilized. The battle was beginning to die down as the Avengers and Thunderbolts gained the upper hand against their snake like foes, the two sides occasional fighting among themselves once the Serpent Society Members they had been double teaming had fallen.

Melissa extended sonic wings in an attempt to slow down Hurricane's charge but if anything the speeding Avenger was increasing, the air flaps doing nothing to stall him. Desperately Melissa decided to do the opposite of creating wings and focused in the path in front of her creating a sonic corridor funnelling Hurricane down the path she chose before leading him to a dead end, concrete reinforced by energy. Bracing herself she felt the impact crack her back before falling to the floor, she had survived and despite the pain managed to stand as Hurricane wobbled, the crash disorientating him before she pushed him over and securing him with sonic restraints.

"Talk about being a crash test dummy," she moaned, "I have a new found respect for air bags." she added rubbing her head. As she walked past Hurricane a blast stunned her and she fell back staggering as Tony Stark flew into her knocking her back into the concrete road block.

"Stay down Melissa, I promise to make this quick." he told her charging up his Uni-Beam.

"And I'll promise that I'm going to scream." Melissa announced letting loose a hyper-sonic scream the noise bouncing off the buildings and amplifying the blast so it could be heard across the entire city until she ran out of puff."

"Are you finished?" Tony asked

"You are." Melissa announced, Tony chuckled and summoned the blast before hearing something land behind him. Turning off the beam he spun round to see MACH VI standing there his blasters levelled at the Iron Man Armour's Head.

"Come on Abe you can't match suits with me." Tony joked, "Your weapons and armor is so primitive next to mine."

"Which is why I'm using my suits power to record this as well as you threatening the Director of SHIELD." Abe announced.

"And I can shut down that feed in…wait, your transmitting live." Tony spluttered, "This is going out live."

"I suggest you help the Director up, apologize and fly off with your Avengers before SHIELD arrives and takes you to the raft." Abe ordered, "Of course with your lawyers you'd be out in hours but those would be some uncomfortable hours."

"Sepulchre it's Tony, tell the others we're leaving and remember to pick us up before you leave." Tony ordered before turning to Melissa, "this is not over Gold you will live to regret this." he added threateningly before a raven shaped blob of darkness swept down and carried him and Hurricane away out of the city.

"Thanks for the save." Melissa told Abe as his visor lifted up to reveal his face, "But you do realize you transported me here in the first place."

"I'm sorry about that." Abe replied, "But on the plus side the Military Oversight Committee is transferring power back to you. That and I've convinced them to give you a day off to recover from your ordeal." Melissa smiled before asking, "Do you have the day off?"

"If the Director see's fit to give me one." he answered his grin telling a hundred words. "Don't you have a nest of snakes to deal with?" he asked. Melissa nodded and swooped down back towards the wrecked shop front of Ms. Marvellous, Abe in tow and the sounds of sirens two minutes behind them. Landing in the club she saw that the fight had spilled out into the main room and that the majority of the Serpent Society was either restrained or out cold. Only Bushmaster had escaped, the rest were going nowhere but the Raft."

"Got the Snake Charmer like you asked boss." Shocker announced as he pushed a thin Indian looking man to the front, "Once he went down half their number turned on Cobra and threw the fight squarely in our favour." Melissa looked over and saw her fellow captives huddled in the corner still trapped in their serpentine bodies.

"Don't worry," she told them, "Cobra had antidote where we were being held and my blood contains a sample that can be cultivated for your use. It may take some time but I assure you SHIELD will keep you safe until the condition is reversed."

"Thank you Director." Abel replied as he led the fellow infected prisoners out to the first of the troop transports decorated with a big red cross. Melissa stopped Sita before pulling her aside briefly. "Did you find your brother?" she asked.

"He's over there." Sita answered pointing at the Snake Charmer being led away by SHIELD Agents. "Please be gentle with him, he's not a bad person." she pleaded. Melissa nodded but didn't say anything else as she headed towards the Medical Truck and hopefully to an effective antidote to remove the quite literal scales under her eyes.

"What about us?" Bison asked, "The house is trashed where the hell are we going to live?"

"There's rooms in Avengers Tower, I can house you there until the Mansion is rebuilt, but let it be known that I'm proud of all of you today." Melissa replied as the trucks began to pull away and a Zeus Shuttle descended over the river ready to take the team to their temporary accommodation.

An hour later Scorcher stepped out of her room, having enjoyed a long and warming shower. The whole night had been long and tiring and Melissa had ensured that bar any world threatening incidents that the team could have tomorrow or more correctly today, as the clock reached two in the morning, to relax and recuperate. Shaking the towel off her head Scorcher sat on the bed and laid her head on the silk pillows before feeling something lumpy under the cushions. Placing her hand under them she pulled out an elegant dark wooden box with a card attached to it with the words, "For your service." on it. Opening the box she saw the crystal that she had stolen from the Marblehead AIM facility resting on a velvet inlay. Smiling she put the lid back on the box and slipped it inside her combat armor. Soon she would have her powers back and then Melissa and the other villains she had corrupted to become do-gooders would truly learn the power of fire.

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #12<p>

Blizzard has a Date, Black Mamba's out for Revenge and Shocker faces his worst nightmare; working with Spiderman


	12. The Widening Path

The sounds of two heavy weights clashing echoed down Wall Street as cars, chunks of rubble and even a few unfortunate civilians came flying down the road towards the Thunderbolts.

"You know Bison is getting very head strong." Scorcher stated incinerating a mail box that flew towards her. "He also needs to learn about the concept of patience."

"Because your swelling with that." Black Mamba replied sarcastically, "So boss what's the plan?" she asked Chen Lu as he ripped the inertia from a thrown Taxi.

"We take down the target before he does any more damage." Chen replied, "Tanya you were asked to take a set of bolas on this mission." he stated as Tanya fished out a strengthened length of wire and heavy balls, "Shocker if you and I stun the target then Tanya can get in an easy shot."

"There is another option." Shocker announced, "Have you tried talking to him, from what I remember Aleksei gave up being the Rhino, it must be something really bad for him to put on the suit again." he explained as Bison came flying past before landing at the base of a snapped off lamp post. From the direction he had just come thunderous foot steps echoed and the grey bulk and long nasal horn of the Rhino. Shocker noted that in addition he had some kind of pole axe and he glanced back at Bison to see a deep gash on the Thunderbolt's arm suggesting that he had come into contact with the weapon.

"Hey Rhino it's me Shocker." Shocker announced, "Listen why don't you take off the suit and…" The Rhino snorted and charged slamming into Shocker and knocking him clear down the block before the Thunderbolt smashed through an office window and vanished. Black Mamba figured that Shocker had given her the opening she needed and threw the bolas, the weapon wrapping around the Rhino's legs causing him to stagger before he bent down and snapped the cable with his horn and turning on the thrower. With a ragged punch he knocked Black Mamba into the wall, the impact causing her to wince in pain. As she fell dark-force energy exploded outwards vaporizing a five meter area around her leaving the Rhino's armor blackened but still intact.

"New plan." Tiger Shark snarled picking up a car with each hand. "Doctor Lu if I smash these on him can you EMP the gas tanks or something and make them explode on him," Chen nodded as Scorcher fired a burst of flame at the Rhino in an attempt to slow him down before being backhanded away. Tiger Shark slammed the cars around the Rhino before a burst of radiation detonated the tanks, the later walking through the explosion and catching a punch from Tiger Shark before knocking him down and curb-stomping him into the concrete, the impact cracking the sidewalk and dropping the Thunderbolt into the sewer below. Angrily he grabbed Radioactive Man by the throat getting ready to gore him when he collapsed, the suit's weight falling backwards before impacting the ground with a massive bang, the horn dug into the concrete as Aleksei lay their. Scorcher crawled cautiously up to him and felt his pulse, the Rhino was alive and their was something else on his neck, round and metallic with a red blinking light, quickly she removed it and presented the orb to Chen who tilted his head confused.

"SHIELD this is Radioactive Man send a retrieval team with heavy lift gear as well as transport to Avengers Tower." Chen ordered, "And make it quick we may have a situation developing down here."

Shocker ached as he struggled to his feet, while his body was bruised his suit was ruined, a massive rip down the front had compromised the insulation but even worse the sprinklers had activated, obviously part of some high-tech security system since the water was purple. The liquid had got into the gauntlets and while they weren't set to a lethal setting a blast from them would send him into convulsions and then he'd be nothing more then a speed hump for Rhino. Breaking out through the door, a cheap MDF construction he guessed from how easy it splintered he headed up to the roof, from there he could call in the Thunderbolts Zeus and get the spare gauntlets from the Shuttle and hopefully vent some of his anger out on Rhino. Opening the roof door Shocker removed the tactical radio and flicked through the channels, eventually he found the right one and was about to call in for back-up when something flew through the air impacted with the radio and glued it to the back of a billboard.

"Okay Purple Man give up and we'll stop off on the way to the Raft for something more seasonal for you to wear." a voice called from behind him. Shocker winced as he heard the words, he recognized the voice and it was one he'd heard to many times before.

"Go away Wall Crawler I'm on official SHIELD business." Shocker growled as he turned to see Spiderman perched on one of the air-conditioning units.

"My mistake it's just the Mattress King." Spiderman joked.

"That never was funny." Shocker said trying to keep from blasting his former adversary, "Why the hell are you bugging me freak. I'm one of the good guys now."

"I'm here to arrest you because you're a super villain." Spiderman announced, "That and the black-current stains on your costume warrant two to five when arrested by a member of the Fashion Police. Also there's a little thing with a guy calling himself Shocker who robbed the home of a wealthy South African Businessman."

"I didn't rob anybody freak now bug out and leave the fuck alone." Shocker snarled as he tried to figure out how many shots he could get off before collapsing.

"Nice try Shock." Spiderman announced swinging towards Shocker, "But you're the only one with fancy bracelets like that." he added as he slammed feet first into Shocker as the Thunderbolt attempted to repel him before being quickly tied up in a silken cocoon. "Now off to the Raft with you." he stated, "If you want we can take the scenic route just like the old times." Spiderman joked before swinging away from the SHIELD Convoy heading towards the Rhino's crash site. Neither the SHIELD Agents, Thunderbolts or even Spiderman noticed the three men positioned on one of the roofs ringing the Liberty-Wall Street Junction.

"Mr. Vickers." one said into a mobile phone, "We found him, your orders?" there was a pause, "We understand." he added shutting the phone.

Fixer strolled out of the federal transport as Melissa helped a team of work-men remove Rhino from the street, a sonic disc cutter speeding the process of cutting through the thug's horn to only a few minutes grunting and moaning. While Rhino was certainly interesting, it was the disc that Scorcher had retrieved that had lured him out of Avengers Tower, when the report came in he decided that his expertise would be required especially since the Retrieval Team were mostly trained and paid to apprehend super-villains not analyze interesting technology.

"Where is the device?" he asked as Tiger Shark crawled lazily out of the sewer.

"There's something wrong with the pH value down there." he moaned as Black Mamba stirred from her resting place, medical teams buzzing round her and looking for broken bones and a whole list of other medical maladies.

"Here I bagged it just like they do in CSI." Scorcher announced handing him a clear plastic bag with the disc stored inside.

"Interesting this is a Neural Shutdown Node, there used by SHIELD and other law enforcement agencies to control difficult prisoner. They get clamped in the back and shut down the host's motor functions as well as higher brain wave functions to make them easier to control." Fixer told them, "However, this one appears to have been modified. Curious?"

"Modified how?" Melissa asked as she landed in between Fixer and Radioactive Man.

"Primarily to act as a neural control node, in other words body control without risking your own body getting close." Fixer informed her removing the disc and placing it in a canister before inserting the case into his chest. "I've managed to find the location that the Rhino's puppet master was operating from." he announced half a minute later, "Server Farm in Virginia that's privately owned but leased out to numerous internet firms."

"And the owner is…?" Melissa asked.

"Oz Corp Communications, at least until it was brought by Prometheus Logistics, a company owned by a Chinese Billionaire. All other data is restricted and if we want to capture the ones responsible then I suggest we hit the site hard and fast.

"One problem we're two Thunderbolts down." Melissa announced, "Don is on a date which I promised I wouldn't disturb and judging from field reports as well as numerous cardiac, neurological and thermoregulatory readings, Tanya is unfit for field work. If you give me an hour I can find some additional support but apart from that all I can do is send a retrieval team in behind you." Fixer nodded he knew it would have to do although judging by the complexity of the device the controller would already be gone unless they were incredibly arrogant.

"It will do." he said trying to mask his disappointment.

"Shall I recover Shocker from where he landed?" Chen asked.

"Do it." Melissa ordered, "Chen take everyone back to Avenger's Tower to resupply and get something to eat. You and Fixer will be handler's on this mission but because we're short handed and because I'm going to the Raft for some recruitment I may ask a third veteran Thunderbolt to step in assuming I can find somebody who's willing to do the job."

"You know something." Scorcher told Bison, "And I hate to admit this, but if I could trade places with anyone it would be Blizzard, he's on a date drinking coffee without a care in the world and we are stuck with an extra baby-sitter, is that really fair."

"Trust me when he left the tower Blizzard was anything but cool." Bison replied as they climbed into the Transport Truck at the end of the convoy bound for Avengers Tower.

* * *

><p><strong>River Café, New York - 13:00PM, 26th of September<strong>

The café that Joe had chosen for their date was high end, Donnie thought as they entered the front and were lead up to the roof by the waiter dressed immaculately in a suit. Joe had dressed for the occasion; sleek trousers and a silk blouse with black stilettos that clicked as she to her seat. Don had simply grabbed a hoody, T-Shirt from a Dazzler Concert and a pair of jeans that smelled less like brine and Freon waste gas then the others. He was underdressed and he knew it, the waiter wasn't helping matters, he gave Don a glare that was chilling and over whelming familiar although the recipient couldn't place where he had seen it before.

"So what's it like being a super hero." Joe asked as he sat down opposite her.

"It's okay, the pay is lousy but at least I meet interesting people." Don replied attempting to make a joke.

"So have you taken out any super villains this week." Joe asked excitedly.

"One or two." Don replied, "Mostly we're on rescue work, using our abilities to help in disaster zones such as the clear up in Oklahoma after Venom's rampage. We did take down Discus and the Man Ape but that was it for this week. Anyway let's not talk about work, I got a free pass and I don't want to be thinking about the Thunderbolts."

"Fine as long as you don't ask me about food that's fine." Joe agreed smiling, "So tell me everything, how you grew up, high school experiences, maybe not what you did before joining the Thunderbolts but apart from that everything."

"Childhood was tough which led to me becoming a gang banger when I was 16, I didn't have sex in high school although I did kiss a girl, I was expelled before prom ironically for setting fire to a locker room. Shortly afterwards I stole a suit that let me freeze things." Don told her, "That's about it; I did have a job as a fridge repair-man after I left the Thunderbolts the first time but then I was put in jail by Osborne."

"You don't really like to talk about your past." Joe summarized, "Or you're present, my guess is that you listen more then talk."

"You're a psych major aren't you?" Don asked. Joe smiled before replying, "Guilty as Charged." They both started laughing causing the couple sitting two tables down to glare and tut loudly as the waiter lurked in the shadows before heading inside.

"Overwatch this is the insider." he muttered into a hand held radio that he had removed from his belt, "You in position."

"In position and ready." a female voice crackled through the radio, "The Master will be arriving soon, did Blizzard bring any of the Thunderbolts with him?"

"I can't see them if they are here." the waiter announced, "The manager has agreed to rope off the section once he arrives."

"Good I'll inform Shadow Hawk to commence approach, we have authority by the FAA to land in the city but we must be careful SHIELD will want to capture the Master if they become aware of his presence on US Soil." Overwatch informed, "We can't afford Gill being a hero, take the girl and keep him under control Overwatch out."

"Be a pleasure." the waiter said to himself as he removed a pistol from the small of his back.

* * *

><p><strong>Avengers Tower, New York - 13:27PM, 26th of September<strong>

Tiger Shark felt that he should see Tanya before the Thunderbolts left for the mission in Virginia, judge her mood and act appropriately. The pair of them had become a sort of couple, working together more closely then the others, apart from a few comments from Scorcher no one had objected and while they still hadn't reached the first date their was some attraction between them. Knocking on the door Tiger Shark heard something slam shut before Tanya walked over and peered out through the door. "Todd hey what's going on?" Mamba asked sounding bubbly.

"I came to see how you were feeling." Tiger Shark replied, "You know about being but on the bench."

"I'm fine," Tanya answered, "I've got some cookies, going to watch some TV maybe hang out in the training room, all the normal stuff."

"Then what was the slamming?" Tiger Shark asked gently applying pressure on the door and pushing Tanya back. Stacked on the bed were a range of knives, small arms and grenades as well as more unconventional weapons. He also noticed that the cache was in the security camera's blind spot as Tanya covered the weapons up with a blanket. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing." Tanya chirped nudging a handle of some long barrelled weapon under the bed.

"Really and you have a spear gun under your bed why?" Tiger Shark asked, "Jesus Tanya what if Melissa finds that you have enough weapons to fight a crusade hidden in your room."

"My powers are failing, or are on the blink." Tanya announced as she walked up to Tiger Shark, "I don't know how long I can hold on before I loose control, that's why I need this stuff."

"But SHIELD has an armoury for you to choose from." Tiger Shark stated, "Why not use their weapons."

"Because I'm going to do something stupid." Tanya replied, "I'm going to the one who gave me the implant that controls my abilities and demand they fix me before I hurt someone I care about, before I hurt you."

"So your plan is to infiltrate a lab and get them to fix your powers." Tiger Shark analyzed, "Did you ever think that maybe your addictions are causing the problem."

"Please Todd don't yell at me." Tanya sobbed wrapping her arms round him, "I need you to help me."

Fixer looked at the digital clock on the back wall of the tower's Zeus hanger and sighed. Chen had arrived first, a good ten minutes before they were meant to assemble, while Bison had arrived on time and Scorcher a few minutes late, blaming her tardiness on the heavy flamethrower tank she had mounted on her back as well as the light weight battle armor painted gold with red flames on the arms and legs.

"New Armor?" Bison remarked, "Looks nice, I assume it's fire proof but what about the helmet, you think nobody's going to punch you in the face?" he asked.

"Oh shut up." she answered, "So are we going or are we going to stand around and spin while whoever set the Rhino loose in the city get further away."

"I just got a message from the Raft, Melissa is transporting the temporary members of the team to Virginia while the additional handler is travelling there himself. All we're waiting for is Tiger Shark since Shocker is still missing." Fixer announced, "Although if he doesn't turn up in five minutes we leave without him." From the end of the hanger the Zeus that was packed ready to leave sprung to life, the massive engines firing up, the heat from the thrusters creating an impenetrable wall of heat between the Thunderbolts and the hijackers. As the loading ramp lifted Fixer swore he could see Tiger Shark flicking the bird at him before the shuttle cleared the hanger door. "Fuck," he swore, "This is not good."

* * *

><p><strong>Somewhere over Harlem, New York City - 14:02PM, 26th of September<strong>

Shocker struggled as Spiderman swung over Harlem in a vein effort to escape, the wall crawler was mysteriously quiet, he had also taken his time as he headed for the Raft, in some times going in the completely wrong direction. In fact it seemed like Spiderman was lost something that Shocker believed didn't happen very easily. As they passed 135th Street, Shocker saw two figures leaping from rooftop to rooftop after them, he wondered who or what they were after but immobilized and strung on another man's back he felt to much like bait.

"Spider Sense is going crazy." Spiderman told him, "Looks like swinging you around city is going to pay off." he told Shocker as a third figure dropped out of the mist above the city and slammed into the hero and his Thunderbolt cargo knocking both of them to the street below. As he impacted with the ground the cocoon split and Shocker crawled out with nothing more then a cracked rip and a few bruises, stretching he looked around, he was in a narrow lane with big buildings scattered around him, from the looks of things he was in a service access point for a garbage truck to get behind the buildings. Moaning he located Spiderman lying on the floor, their attacker, dressed head to toe in red pining him to the floor a long pointed tube sticking into the Wall Crawler's neck that was siphoning blood back to the owner, his face covered in a modified gas mask.

"That is disgusting." Shocker commented walking over and ripping the man off Spiderman, "Have some class for God's Sake his blood must taste disgusting."

"We're not here for him." a voice with a South African drawl said from the fire escape, Shocker turned and saw a man dressed in a white python leather coat over a black T-Shirt and ripped jeans. Fairley normal if you didn't take into account the long barbed whips attached to the man's hands. Shocker recognized the speaker as a South African Mercenary known as Razor Wire even though official reports listed the man as dead. "Mr Vickers wants' what you stole returned to him." Razor Wire announced, "Or else."

"Or else he'll send second rate thugs after me." Shocker commented, "Not impressed." he added as the man in red crouched behind him. "Not that I care but what have you done to the wall crawler."

"Assassin Bug like's the one's with something different in their blood." the man in red announced, "Assassin Bug wonders what you taste like?" Shocker rolled his eyes before mentally judging the distance from Razor Wire to his position. With a swift movement he turned and smashed Assassin Bug in the beaked face before receiving a surprisingly powerful shove back before watching his target scale the fence and leap back towards Spiderman. "Assassin Bug like's Spiderman's blood, it's full of power." Assassin Bug announced as Razor Wire wrapped his whips around Shocker's shoulders before turning him upside down and lifting him to his level. "Return the technology Schultz or I let Assassin Bug drain the Spider before we rip you apart."

"As fun as that might be I can't let you do that." Shocker announced, "Unfortunately I didn't steal from you or your boss." he explained as he swung forwards in an attempt to grab hold of the fire escapes ladder.

"You think me an idiot; I saw the footage of you." Razor Wire snarled bringing Shocker closer to his face.

"You are an idiot." Shocker replied head butting the South African in the face before grabbing the ladder and letting himself drop, the acceleration stretching Razor Wire's cables before dragging him off the edge. Dropping and rolling Shocker shook off the loosening wires before picking up a discarded pipe, the makeshift weapon more reliable then his gauntlets until he could fix them. With a hiss Assassin Bug leapt onto the wall before springing off knocking him to the floor as Shocker swung the pipe breaking the 'proboscis' off his mask revealing pale skin and a pair of lips sealed shut by wire. With a shriek of pain Assassin Bug backed off as his skin smoked and burnt before cowering in the shadows while Razor Wire cracked his whips aggressively in an attempt to force Shocker back towards the blood sucker behind him.

"Hey Whiplash or whoever you are." Spiderman announced getting to his feet, "You know that coat's illegal. CITIES would have a field day with you." he added spraying a web at the wall before sliding into the villain just as he turned round to see who was insulting him. With a thud he fell down before receiving a sharp whack with the pipe that Shocker had found, knocking him out for a while.

"What the hell is going on?" Shocker yelled, "And why the hell does everyone think I broke into a safe owned by a South African that employs racist basterds such as Razor Wire to solve his problem."

"Oh grow up this wasn't about you really." Spiderman stated, "Somebody is using hero and villain tech to upgrade small time hoods*. Somebody used your gauntlets to break into a safe, I figured to catch a crook use a crook. My guess is that you always had a way to track down your gauntlets if they were ever stolen."

"So this is why you kidnapped me, why not go to SHIELD and ask for their help." Shocker snarled.

"For all I know it could be somebody at SHIELD who's the arms dealer." Spiderman announced before rubbing his head, "Spider Sense again." he looked at Shocker then the unconscious Razor Wire and the cowering Assassin Bug, none of them presented a real danger as the roar of a helicopter sounded before hovering over head. Spiderman recognized the markings on its flanks as did Shocker long before one of the men inside yelled over a mega phone, "This is the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, surrender or we will fire, you have ten seconds to comply."

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #13<p>

Shocker and Spiderman: Fugitives of SHIELD, Black Mamba and Tiger Shark find themselves in hot water and just who are the Tempbolts?

*As seen (at least once it's written) in Restoration: Spiderman - The Demon War


	13. Situational Awareness

Melissa watched as the T-Wagon lifted off from the Raft, she had taken a massive gamble choosing the two Temporary Thunderbolts and hoped that the First Squad would be back in action soon. Striding out of the hanger the comms. unit on her arm beeped before projecting a life size hologram of Fixer onto the rocky shore line.

"Melissa we have a problem." he announced, "Tiger Shark and Black Mamba went AWOL, they stole the Zeus and blasted their way out of the tower. I want permission to pursue and bring them back before they cause too much trouble."

"They escaped," Melissa growled through gritted teeth, "Fixer take the team to Virginia, others will take care of Black Mamba and Tiger Shark's breakout. All I need you to do is confirm where they are heading and tell me when they stop."

"Roger that boss, we'll be leaving in five minutes, Fixer out." The hologram vanished before the comms. unit beeped again. Melissa tapped it and an image of a Harlem Street appeared floating in mid air. There was a SHIELD agent clearly focused in the image but he seemed to be positioned upside down. "Ma'am we have found Shocker." he told Melissa.

"Good take him back to Avenger's Tower and tell him to wait for me, he's going to help me track some fugitives." Melissa ordered

"There might be a problem there Ma'am. Shocker is on the loose and he's working with an accomplice. We think it's Spiderman but it could possibly be an imposter because he attacked us and stuck us to the wall." the agents told her.

"Help is coming." Melissa growled before tapping her ear-piece. "Abe we have a November Fife Situation brewing with Tiger Shark, Shocker and Black Mamba. You take Schultz and I'll deal with the others. We need to do this fast and hard before FACT finds out and sticks their noses in as well." Melissa tapped the ear-piece again and noticed that she had two e-mails sent to her comms. bracelet. The first was from Fixer displaying a Zeus transport heading towards Delaware the other was a mocking e-mail from Tony Stark. Melissa read the last couple of sentences and swore as she noticed the significance of the words. Stark knew she was in trouble before she did, once the Thunderbolts were under control she was sure that some heads were going to roll once she was done with them.

* * *

><p><strong>Harlem, New York City - 14:14PM, 26th September<strong>

Shocker cracked his knuckles as he put down the communication terminal secretly glad that Melissa had answered when he had called. Now that she knew he was with Spiderman there was less chance that she would commit large numbers of SHIELD agents to the pursuit and risk potential injury to both him and the agents, he couldn't care less about Spiderman.

"So you going to tie yourself up or am I going to have spin another cocoon around you?" Spiderman asked.

"Is that anyway to treat a hero?" Shocker replied. "Your not dragging me around the city again like that. You wanted my help, and for the sake of my rapidly improving name I'm going to deal with the problem, but we're going to do it my way."

"What by wearing silly costumes, blasting people but wildly missing and getting our butt's kicked by everybody who wears a cape?" Spiderman suggested.

"Listen Web Head, the way I see it I have a way to find out who broke into the vault and I have experience in shutting them down remotely so nobody gets hurt by the joker who has them attached to his arms. So we do it my way, I can easily do it by myself." he snarled, "Your choice." he added as he walked to the end of the alley. Something impacted with his back and he was hoisted into the air on the end of a web line attached to his back. "This isn't a better way to travel." he said trying not to look down.

"Shocking." Spiderman joked, "Where the hell do we need to go?"

"Brooklyn, there's a storage facility on Bay Ridge and 13th Avenue, I kept a lot of my stuff their, all my gauntlets save for the one's I'm wearing and a few pairs at Avenger's Tower. I also implanted tracking chips in the onboard computers just in case this happened." Shocker yelled up as Spiderman swung over a water tower. Shocker impacted the metal structure with a deep bang before cursing several things as he was hoisted up onto Spiderman's back and wrapped in another cocoon. As they swung past the alley they had just left the third of the South African 'Debt Recovery Team' sat and watched before flicking open the mobile he had used earlier. "Mr Vickers we still are in pursuit, send Burke, Clancy and Giselle to Bay Ridge so our thieves get a warm welcome."

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Biological Research Facility, Delaware Coast Line - 14:36PM, 26th of September<strong>

The Zeus landed five miles up the coast from the Roxxon Facility, an intimidating structure using the cover of an old oil refinery to operate undiscovered. From what Tiger Shark knew about the company it was shady, often hiring criminals for operations to the point of being in the super-villain business themselves. The actual company had been likened to HYDRA, the removal of one of Roxxon's companies usually resulted in the growth of another. It was no surprise that the place was guarded but Tanya reassured him that she could get them in without alarms and get them out with even less hassle. The plan was to use the same tactics they had got them into the Marblehead AIM Facility, Roxxon had dive chambers that would allow them to infiltrate from underwater.

Tanya activated the Zeus's Camouflage settings before leaving the shuttle, she had decided to dress the part for the mission and had donned a full body stocking dyed matte black and had attached a number of weapons and equipment that might be useful. She was apprehensive as she submerged while the ability to breath underwater was a passive power she was unsure how it would react after her dark-force abilities had violently exploded in the battle with the Rhino. Taking a deep breath she submerged and sighed as the gills grafted to her neck begun to extract air from the water. The trek to the facility while longer then the one to the Marblehead Facility took less time as MACH VI and Blizzard, both of whom were inexperienced in underwater combat, were not there to slow them down. Reaching the facility Tanya unhooked an orb from her belt before releasing it up into one of the dive pools, the onboard camera revealing only a few unarmed technicians working in the room above them.

"Mostly clear." Mamba whispered, "Two techs by the door and a guard on the catwalk." she explained, "Okay he's turning to head into a closet, possibly a toilet. Let's do this." she kicked furiously propelling herself up through the dive-pool as Tiger Shark followed her up before he bounced off the surface, electricity sparking off his belly. "What the hell?" Tanya asked before something sharp pierced her neck and she went down bursts of dark force energy erupting around the room.

"Take them to the brig." a voice announced warped by the sound of a PA System, "Call the Director and tell him we have captured the intruders SHIELD warned us were coming."

"Shall we tell Gold that the problem is dealt with?" a second voice, this one originating in the room asked.

"No these two have potential if just for the bio-technology we scavenge off them alone." the PA voice ordered, "Gold doesn't need to know we found them or are holding them until it will be advantageous for the company to release them."

* * *

><p><strong>Server Farm, Ten Miles West of Brookneal, Virginia - 14:40PM, 26th September<strong>

The Server Farm was comprised on one massive building attached to a solar energy power-plant, massive towers with photo-voltaic panels glinting in the sunlight. As instructed the SHIELD retrieval team had set up a perimeter around the farm and had fortified the Zeus's landing platform. Radioactive Man and Fixer's scans of the area had revealed two heat signatures in the main control room but nothing else, and while both had detected a fair amount of photonic energy but both concluded that it would be expected in this kind of a facility. Scorcher tapped the nozzle of the flamethrower against her leg, she was impatient and a little nervous, the addition of another handler as well as more prisoners on the team could be a volatile situation. Suddenly lumbering through the few low lying clouds on the horizon one of SHIELD's floating jail cells or T-Wagons appeared listing to and fro as if something very large and very strong was moving around inside.

"Better late then never although I reckon the four of us could have taken the two guys inside." Bison snorted, "Their probably two nerds who were tied up and thrown in the basement by the real bad guys."

"You reckon." Scorcher replied sarcastically, "This is a wild goose chase we should be hunting down Tiger Shark and Black Mamba."

"Shut your mouth Scorcher." Fixer sneered, "The Director believes this is a proper use of the Thunderbolt' time." he added as the T-Wagon touched down, the sound of its engines drowned out by a myriad of yells, bangs and weapons fire from inside the cargo bay.

"Did Melissa say who was coming out?" Chen asked as one of the retrieval team went to open the door.

"No." Fixer replied, "I could check the Raft's files to see who was discharged but in the end it would be faster just to open the doors." the last two words were swallowed up by a massive crash as the rear bay doors splintered knocking the SHIELD agents off his feet as a man clad in full body armor came flying out of the T-Wagon.

"Filthy man I am not your equal I am your superior." a voice boomed from inside the wagon as the armoured man picked himself up before picking up the lance strapped to his thigh and fired a beam into the T-Wagon, "I am the Dreadknight you will serve me." There was a growl of anger as a red headed woman appeared in the door-way dressed in red, a chain wrapped around her arm. "I bow to no man lest a petty tyrant like you." she replied whipping the chain out only for it to be deflected by a blow from the Dreadknight's lance.

"Thundra, Dreadknight stand down, you are federal agents so behave like them." a voice echoed from the back of the T-Wagon, as a man in a red jump-suit with large mechanical wings and a jet turbine strapped to his back emerged as Thundra gave him a foul look before moving out of his way. With a kick she knocked Dreadknight through the chain link gates and into the server farm. Thundra turned to look at the other Thunderbolts. "Bow down to your quee…" As she spoke the man behind her pressed a button on his gauntlets sending her convulsing until she shook off the electricity.

"That's the sixth time I've shocked her." the man behind her announced, "Three times for the knight, they have similar personalities but different objectives which made them unbearable on the flight over."

"Harrier, good to see you again." Fixer said in an unwelcoming tone, "There's two guys inside, status unknown so we will presume innocent until…where is she going?" he asked as Thundra stomped past the Dreadknight giving him a swift kick knocking him down before ripping through a solar energy collector and throwing it at the main building.

"Well Bison she make's you look subtle." Scorcher stated, "So we all agree that she's a loony right?" The others all sighed and started following Thundra who had reached the armoured blast doors and was in the process of ripping them off their hinges. As they passed the Dreadknight, the Latvarian holding his knee, Bison grabbed him and dragged him along with them as he cursed Thundra, the Thunderbolts and life in general.

"Trust me buddy," Bison said, "This is an easy day compared to some."

* * *

><p><strong>Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York - 14:49PM, 26th September<strong>

The storage facility was a low squat building at the end of a row of elegant mansion houses, something that Spiderman had thought ironic as he swung over the small parking lot round the back of the building before dropping down onto the roof. During the swing over his Spider Sense had flashed a few times, nothing major and when he checked for pursuers he caught glimpses of someone jumping from roof-top to roof top but no real evidence of anything sinister. Dropping Shocker on the roof he watched the Thunderbolt walk over to the door and run his fingers across the seam before opening a camouflaged roof door.

"Tut tut tut." Spiderman chided, "What will Melissa say when she finds out your breaking and entering?"

"I own one twelfth of this building." Shocker replied, "Technically this is my own property."

"It's still not very heroic, as usual you reveal that your just dumb muscle." Spiderman taunted as Shocker opened the door and descended down the stairs. Shocker pushed open a second door revealing a row of twelve vaults each with a name of a big time villain, a virtual who's who of some of the nastiest foes Spiderman had ever met. "So you legally own this building?" he asked Shocker.

"Twelve of us decided that we were fed up of our gear being confiscated so we joined forces to legally buy a storage facility." Shocker explained, "Most of us don't use this place any more. Constrictor, Cardinal, Beetle and I all work for SHIELD, Bombshell, Crossfire, Yellowjacket and Boomerang are dead. As for the others, there either incarcerated in the Raft or on the run. Still we may run one of the others so be ready for a fight." he warned Spiderman as he passed doors marked Centurius and Whiplash before reaching two doors at the end. Shocker ran his hand across the surface and narrowed his eyes. "Someone has been inside recently."

"Because now you're a master detective." Spiderman announced, "As far as I'm concerned you and the other Thunderbolts are federally backed thugs who are no different from the Dark Avengers that Osborne hired."

"Maybe but at least we're getting the job done, and we're not hated by the public unlike a certain wall crawler I can name." Shocker spat back bushing the door open to reveal a large chamber, the shelves lined with pairs of vibro-shock gauntlets. Shocker took off the gauntlets he wore and put them on a shelf before scanning the room. "Crap the FVECs are gone." he cursed.

"Uh for those of us who don't speak villain." Spiderman asked

"The prototype for my gauntlets the first I ever created were the Focused Vibrational Energy Casters designed to reduce rubble to nothing. I created them as a free lance engineer but all the big companies decided that they were useless and I didn't see a cent for my work. I then started to rob safes and well you know the rest." Shocker informed, "Luckily I regularly upgraded them so they could be charged from the wall. By sending a wireless command I can turn that system off so they can only be charged from a designated unit, like the one here." he added nudging a foot tall cylinder with his foot. "All we need to do is wait."

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Biological Research Facility, Delaware Coast Line - 15:01PM, 26th of September<strong>

Tanya opened her eyes to see that she was in a well furnished security office, obviously for common intruders rather then super powered beings. Rubbing her wrists she saw that she had been bound by handcuffs but somebody had removed them, recently be the look of the welts on her arms.

"No you don't understand me Director, Gold showed up and started nosing around, we have no choice but to free the intruders." a voice squeaked, "No she's still here claims that she's not leaving until her agents get what they came from." Tanya swung off the bed she had been laid in and walked cautiously towards the door, she had been disarmed but there was no sign she had been hurt beyond the initial knockout blast. Opening the door she found a balding man standing in the corridor flanked by security guards talking on a mobile phone before quickly snapping it shut. "Ms. Sealy we are glad that your un-hurt, please follow me the Directors are waiting." Tanya nodded and followed the man into a luxurious study before sitting down in full glare to the three people inside. One was the new CEO of Roxxon Conglomerate, the other was the surgeon who had implanted the original implant, the last was Melissa and she looked furious, her eyes glowing; the left a vivid pink and the right a predatory amber, Tanya doubted the latter was cosmetic it seemed all too real.

"What did you think you were doing?" Melissa boomed, "You have quite literally damaged SHIELD's reputation. I have the FACT board coming down like an iron fist on my back, I have Norman Osborne publicly displaying his Avengers team stating that I'm a corrupt director out to publically sabotage Roxxon, in an hour I have to talk to the Vice President to explain your actions."

"Is Todd alright?" Tanya croaked.

"He's fine and working to reduce the impact by obtaining something from Roxxon's Marine Lab's. Now I don't want to hear another word from you." Melissa snapped. Tanya bowed her head. "Tanya its Melissa." a voice came, "I'm speaking sub-sonically so don't react. I have authorized exploratory surgery for Doctor Roth over there to check the status of your implant. The situation is salvageable and you have actually helped me gain access to this lab. SHIELD has been watching Mr Roxxon and his work closely and are suspicious especially about their new energy programme. Keep your ears open and good luck."

"Madame Director." Roxxon's CEO said, "Are you sure you want us to proceed?"

"Yes Mr. Roxxon, SHIELD is sorry for the inconvenience this has caused but is willing to compensate you with funding for all viable conversion projects in the future." Melissa announced giving Roxxon a big fake smile, "As soon as your done and Mr. Assails returns send my Thunderbolts back to Avenger's Tower. I will deal with them their." Roxxon nodded and shook Melissa's hand before the pair of them walked out. Doctor Roth stood up and opened his mouth before closing it. "Ms. Sealy time is of the essence, every minute counts in this situations, come with me and we will see if we can terminate the problem." Tanya gulped she wasn't sure if Roth's statement had been badly phrased or was a thinly veiled threat. Either way she was quite sure that Roxxon were not going to let her out of the company without a lot of kicking and screaming.

* * *

><p><strong>Server Farm, Ten Miles West of Brookneal, Virginia - 15:09PM, 26th September<strong>

Thudra ripped off the final door, leaving the metal panel on the floor as the other Thunderbolts ran to catch up. Fixer pushed past her and scanned the room up ahead, the thin beams of light snaking through the data processing stacks and into the control pit that lined a thin narrow bridge. Bison peeked through and saw the light blink off as Fixer twisted the lens over his right eye the beam going from red to blue.

"Anyone else think that this set-up looks like one of those Star Destroyer Bridges from Star Wars?" he whispered.

"You watch too many movies." Scorcher replied as Dreadknight ran his fingers along his lance muttering softly to himself. The others caught words such as inferior design and Latvarian efficacy but didn't feel like they should ask. Fixer looked across the room and saw that they all represented different levels of impatience ranging from Chen's methodical glare to Thundra's irritated foot taping. "One hostile, scans match with a David Bloom AKA Tracer, he's been off the grid for a while so be careful we don't know what he's capable of." Fixer announced, "Can't see the other, Thundra, Harrier and Scorcher guard the entrance everyone else inside and distract him long enough for me to download the data stored here and then we take him and his buddy wherever they are." he ordered before leading Bison, Radioactive Man and Dreadknight into the room.

Walking into the room Fixer suddenly realized that Tracer wasn't a threat; the man was quite literally plugged into the system with massive cables and wires, almost as if he was a living hard drive. "My God." Bison whispered as he walked up to Tracer and waved his hand over the man's face, his eyes sitting in their sockets and not following the hand. "This guy ain't a hostile he's a victim." Bison continued reaching out to remove one of the cables.

"Bison no." Chen ordered as the Thunderbolt reached out. Seconds later his hand's begun to burn and he recoiled back as a wall of light erupted from the walls before a man shaped figure emerged from the light. "Sorry Thunderbolts." the man announced his voice sparking as he emerged his features morphing into a horned man with long claw like fingers and soulless hollows for eyes. "My employer doesn't want you to touch that." the Living Laser cackled as the wall of light begun to move forward heading towards the Thunderbolts, energy sparking and hissing across the surface.

* * *

><p><strong>River Café, New York - 15:12PM, 26th of September<strong>

Don laughed as Joe finished doing the impression of the Walrus, he felt better today then he had in a long time, like he was actually living rather then reacting and responding. He wondered how long it had been since anybody had looked at him like Joe did at the moment. As far as he was concerned there was nothing that could ruin this moment. Nothing except that they had finished the coffee's they had ordered after desert. Soon the date would be over and he would go back to the life he lived, admittedly he enjoyed being a Thunderbolt again but it couldn't compare to his first date.

"Excuse me can we have the bill." he asked the waiter.

"Sure thing, let me get it for you sir." the waiter replied the last word grating on his tongue. Rummaging through his pockets he found the pistol he had brought in with him and walked slowly behind Don before stabbing it into his neck. "Move and you'll resemble a pile of crap on the sidewalk. And don't try anything Blizzard or the girl gets it." Don looked over at Joe to see the red dot of a laser scope dancing around her forehead.

"Do I know you?" he asked the waiter.

"You knew my brother Curtis and you both worked for my boss." the waiter replied.

"Calvin Carr, Chemistro why on Earth are you and your sniper buddy trying to kill me. I've never met you let alone done anything to you. As far as I was concerned Curtis and I parted on favourable terms." Don explained.

"We're not here for the kill." Chemistro replied his voice drowned out by the whirling rotor as a Helicopter descended and a trio of people emerged from the troop bay. One was carrying a laptop, the second was dressed like a bodyguard and the third was a woman wearing crimson power-armor, Don didn't recognize any of them all though he suspected that the latter was the newest version of the Crimson Dynamo and if so it meant that if things went sour there was little chance of him and Joe escaping. "We're just here to talk." Chemistro added as he pressed his alchemy gun deeper into Don's neck.

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #15<p>

Shocker caught between a Spider and a Beetle, Blizzard pays for his past choices and will Tiger Shark escape from Roxxon's Tentacles?


	14. Offers of Power

The Roxxon Deep Water Research Facility sat half a mile away as the two observers waited and watched. They had been paid to watch, to monitor the facility by Roxxon, the company was fearful of what they had found and believed it to be dangerous to their future plans. Despite the terror inside nothing ever happened and the watchers remained keeping an eye on the sea floor facility never daring to get to close. The first watcher pushed a floating jellyfish along the surface of the sea floor, the patch barren revealing scared rock, creating a glowing pattern across the top. "The spire of the cathedral in the heart of Old Atlantis." the player hissed in Atlantean, "I bet you can't do better."

"Two hours extra guard duty says I can." his companion replied in English tinged with a Queensland Accent betraying his origin. The two guards only had time to wager and they never bet more then two hours, any more could lead them into fatigues welcoming arms and allow the monster inside to escape while they slept. The second speaker stroked the long tassels hanging from his face, "Looks like the boss wants' to talk." he snorted pointing to the glowing portable holographic projector on the Atlantean's arm. Tapping the device the projector's wearer swam round and hovered as the face of Roxxon's CEO rippled too life, occasionally breaking up as the current twisted through the light image.

"Trigger Fish, Wobbegong you vigil is almost over." Roxxon explained, "I am sending an operative in to receive the sample, when he re-emerges from the facility, kill him and take the sample to me. On completion an extra quarter of a million will be added to your account."

"Will do boss." Wobbegong replied as Trigger Fish turned off the image and wrapped his hands around the spear gun on his back. Hopefully the target would put up a bit of a fight, a little bit of entertainment was worth more then the bonus that Roxxon had just promised them.

* * *

><p><strong>River Café, New York - 15:16PM, 26th of September<strong>

Don watched as the man with the laptop placed the device on the table in front of Joe, for a moment he breathed a sigh of relief as the red dot vanished before reappearing on her forehead as the sniper relocated to a new firing position. The laptop man his work done bowed before walking back towards the helicopter as the bodyguard moved to stand behind Joe while the Crimson Dynamo stood in the middle of the two groups, ready to act when there was trouble.

"Turn on the laptop." the bodyguard ordered Don his coat bulging to reveal a long strand of cable which instantly made the Thunderbolt think of Backlash before Iron Man's Armor had killed the rouge. This is bad Don thought, another former friend from my past; I worked with Backlash before as well as one of the former Crimson Dynamo's and Carr's brother. Reaching out he slowly pressed the power button before retracting his arm as Chemistro moved his weapon into line with the Thunderbolt's head.

"Now listen." Chemistro ordered as Backlash unhooked the whip from his belt and cracked it over Joe's shoulder. "Or the girl dies."

"Yes I understand." Don answered, he felt terrified, somehow he had got not only himself into danger but his date too. And he had the feeling that it was going to get worse if the assorted villains were working for the man he thought they were. A man who never took no for an answer as the laptop screen showed an exquisite palace with a desk decorated in oriental dragons coated in gold mounted on the front. Behind it sat a tall imposing man of Chinese origin, a man Donnie knew too well. "Good Afternoon Mr Gill," the man on the screen announced, "We have a lot to talk about." he added.

* * *

><p><strong>Server Farm, Ten Miles West of Brookneal, Virginia - 15:21PM, 26th September<strong>

Scorcher slid under the mass of cable as the Living Laser's wall of light engulfed the entire building. Chen and Fixer had managed to get everyone out of the building with little difficulty but they now were faced with a multitude of problems and conflicting ideas about what to do next. Thundra had suggested throwing the men at the wall in the order of least importance in hopes at overloading the energy, Fixer had suggested constructing some kind of photonic disturbance array and Dreadknight had attempted to offer the Laser power if he aided in his crusade against Doctor Doom, Harrier's hand just happened to slip seconds after he had extended the invitation causing the Taser nanites in the Velsing's blood to fire.

"Chen you're mostly radiation right?" Bison asked, "Isn't light just radiation so surely you could absorb it right?" he asked

"It's good in theory." Fixer announced, "But the Living Laser is probably oscillating so fast that Chen may have trouble keeping up." he added looking over at Chen. Harrier dropped down and landed next to Fixer before tapping his helmet three times.

"What the hell are they keeping from us?" Bison asked

"They plan against us." Thundra growled, "They can't be trusted."

"Oh will you shut up." Scorcher moaned, "They have a good reason, and it has nothing to do with treachery."

"Are you sure?" Dreadknight asked, "Those in power care little for their subordinates."

"In some cases, but Melissa wouldn't let that happen unless there was a good reason." Scorcher replied, "I'll admit that we're not friends or even enjoy being in each other's company but she genuinely cares about our well being."

"We have a problem." Fixer said as he walked over.

"Another one?" Bison snorted, "Worse then old Laser Brain trying to fry us you mean."

"Possibly, we picked up the second signal again and got a match with bio-metrics from a Mr. Jack Tagget AKA Firepower in the vicinity." Fixer explained, "That means we have three super powered targets in the area and…" From behind them the Zeus exploded in a shower of radioactive fuel and flame as the SHIELD agents fired blindly up at something before being thrown into photo-voltaic panel or coolant stacks, the sound of gun-fire replaced by screams.

"That's bad." Bison grunted as Dreadknight powered up his lance.

"I have seen this villain before." the knight announced, "The armor he wears is durable but can be disabled. I will deal with this monster myself."

"Hold it Sir Lancelot where the hell do you think your going." Harrier said tapping his hand on the gauntlet. "Fixer the photonic distributor you mentioned, what do you need to make it and how long would it take?"

"A power source, two focusing rods able to capture and the distribute light, some welding gear and a UV Conversion Pack. With those tools I could make one in two minutes. I could possibly run the device off my own power cells and at a pinch the solar panels would works as focusing rods but the rest of the equipment would be hard to find." he announced, "Unless, Chen could act as a conversion device and Scorcher has flamethrowers, it would be a sloppy job but it might just work."

"So if I take Bison, Thundra and the knight with me and keep Firepower busy you could get it to work?" Harrier asked.

"In theory." Fixer replied. Inside the server hub the walls of light vibrated with each word. The Living Laser had learnt much when he had infiltrated the Thunderbolts by converting Songbird's sound beams into radio waves. "They want you Mr. Bloom." the Laser cackled shining a light on Tracer's forehead, "Then we'll give you to them." he added as Tracer wrapped his hands on his sidearm's and jerked mechanically towards the door the Thunderbolts had fled through.

* * *

><p><strong>Storage Complex, Brooklyn, New York - 15:22PM, 26th September<strong>

Shocker watched the roof mounted sentry cameras that the coalition of villains had installed waiting for his doppelganger to arrive. Spiderman was still moving around looking in the vaults, an occasional gasp or comment drifting lazily through the air. Shocker reckoned that whoever he was Spiderman was quite nerdy, he was impressed with the stockpiled technology in the same way a child entering Harrods gasps at the sheer amount of riches hidden inside. As he begun to think Shocker noticed the screen turn red and the camera display five thermal signatures ranging from frozen blue to one that burnt white hot against the cool September Afternoon. Whoever they were, Shocker thought, their not the criminal there not the criminal we're looking for. Three of the signatures including the burning mass headed towards the stairs into the building while the other two, one normal heat signature apart from the hands and the cold blue one stayed on the roof possibly to act as sentries.

"Hey Shocker does Shockwave still have that exposed rocket jet configuration on his armor." Spiderman asked popping his head over the edge of the door. Shocker raised a finger to his mouth and gestured to the roof. Spiderman tilted his head and whispered, "Seriously our thief decides now to arrive." Shocker shook his head and slammed a fist into his other hand. "Oh okay." Spiderman announced before dropping off the ceiling and rolling into the room as a glob of acid "That is gross." he spat as the infiltrators entered the building, one of them holding a pistol, the nozzle leaking acid.

"Surrender Spiderman we don't want you we only want the thief." the shooter announced as she stepped forward, her mouth hidden by green fabric, her body wrapped in a barley their bodysuit studded with re-curved blades on the legs and arms. She was flanked by a skinny man dressed entirely in black with goggles supporting a multitude of green lenses and a man who seemed to be completely made of stone, glowing red veins moving under the craggy surface. "Uh as much as I would love to let you remove one thorn from my side I think that he's innocent."

"Then we'll crush you as well." the rock giant grunted.

"Your ripping off the Thing I hope you paid copyright or otherwise it's Clobbering Time." Spiderman replied before the man in black sprung to his position grabbed him and threw him to the ceiling before flipping over again and throwing him into the vault marked Boomerang. "You have nobody to save you know thief." the woman hissed levelling the pistol at him before firing just as Shocker brought up a Vibrational shield, the deadly acid vaporizing before firing back disintegrating the woman's pistol.

"Don't worry Rhinkalas." the armoured man roared, "I'll burn the little fuck out." he said as he lumbered forward the veins on his rocky skin pulsing before his entire form caught alight turning him into a burning hulk, the fire seemingly erupting from beneath his rocky exterior. As he moved the floor begun to melt before rapidly cooling as the man mountain stepped away. Shocker opened fire, his blasts bouncing off his targets skin, the heat causing him to wince as it became almost unbearable. "You forgot to say flame on." Spiderman yelled, "Maybe these will cool you down." he announced throwing a hail of Boomerangs at the villain, the projectiles exploding and showering him with Liquid Nitrogen and freezing him in his tracks. "Cryorangs don't leave home without them." Suddenly he turned as Rand latched onto him and pulled him off the wall before ramming him through the wall and into the next vault.

"Okay lady." Shocker announced as Rhinkalas reached for a set of razor sharp disks on her belt. "I didn't rob you." he added vaporizing the first of a hail of razor sharp projectiles thrown at him before stunning the South African. "Now tell your boss that your chasing the wrong man." Shocker ordered. Rhinkalas grinned before lashing out grabbing Shocker's neck with her thighs and flicking him into the key pad for Centurius's Vault the blow causing the door to swing open smashing the South African in the cheek causing her to release her grip. Shocker got to his feet and felt the heat rise behind him as the burning rock skinned giant emerged from his vault. Behind him there was a pair of screams as Spiderman and Rand were thrown out of the end vault before they both scrabbled away as the ground shook and something emerged eyes glowing in the semi-darkness, joints clicking before both sounds were joined by the whine of a pair of blasters powering up.

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Water Research Facility, Continental Shelf - 15:31PM, 26th September<strong>

Tiger Shark powered his way down to the Roxxon Deep Water Research Facility his senses cutting through the gloom searching for any signs of trouble. It soon became evident that something had indeed happened at the facility, something bad, the roof had imploded inwards and the lights were off leaving an eerie sense of abandonment, like a shell shucked by a giant hermit crab. Todd guessed that the crew of twenty; seventeen men and three women were lost, he knew that they probably didn't deserve their fate but he couldn't let that stop him from completing his mission, Roxxon wanted a severed hand brought up, apparently it had some kind of virus that they wanted to study.

Getting closer Todd saw something move, scuttling off into the gloom, he got a quick look and realised what it was, or had been. The creature had massive lobster like jointed legs and long barbells that moved in the current. In addition the main arms were lined with hooks and suckers and they seemed to move more fluidly then they should be able. The face was the worse betraying it's origin; the creature had been human, mutated and left to fend for itself on the ocean floor. Todd wondered if Roxxon had been responsible or if it was something else, something familiar as he swam over more of the chimerical creatures crawling over the building's surface grazing the sponges and bacterial mats growing on the Perspex. Locating an entrance Tiger Shark descended, his presence causing the creatures nearby to jerk backwards watching him with wretched eyes.

The inside of the base was filthy, mud and silt cloaking the bottom as Todd swam along the corridors, various doors buckled and cracked by water pressure. Apart from the occasional octopus scampering along the bottom, the place was deserted and there was no sign of the staff. Once Todd thought he saw something swim away across the other side of the facility but he quickly dismissed it as another mutated lab technician, the most probable cause for the facilities in-human maintenance crew. Reaching the Bio Weapons Lab, the door strangely intact, Todd peered inside and saw life, three women dressed in blue swimsuits chained to a massive stone, their hair coloured pink and floating in the current, something that Todd found weird since the room was sealed.

Twisting the massive handle Tiger Shark pushed the door open, sediment flooding into the room clouding the women from view. Todd swam on until he saw the sample, quivering in a glass case, Todd smiled this was easy, too easy. Reaching out he saw a blue swimming rapidly from the left before feeling razor sharp teeth clamp onto his arm, his assailant dragging him towards the rock before slamming him down in front of it next to the chained women. Todd looked at the structure and saw that he had been mistaken, the rock was a massive octopus, its tentacles stretched across the room and where the beck and face should be on a normal cephalopod was a man, his skin mottled, colours and patterns flashing across the surface.

"Why do you steal from me my child, I would have given this to you willingly?" the octopus boomed in a voice that vibrated through the floor and water. Tiger Shark narrowed his eyes before growling, "You, it was all a façade you never really died."

"Yes and now I ask one thing of you, agree to help me and I will see that you and your lover are treated as royalty. Fail and I will turn her, add her to my harem until I can claim the one I love." the octopus offered.

"What do I have to do?" Todd asked grimacing as he thought of Tanya chained to the creature and left for his sexual desires.

* * *

><p><strong>River Café, New York - 15:35PM, 26th of September<strong>

That's my offer Mr. Gill, you worked for me once and I was impressed by your recent skirmish with Tony Stark." the Mandarin announced, "I have assembled some of the most fearsome rouges from around the globe. Can you really afford not to join, to finally rid yourself of the one responsible for all your problems?"

"Who have you assembled." Don asked, "I'll only agree to work for you if I know that there's nobody who's got a score to settle with me." He looked over at Joe her mouth curled in disgust at the fact he was even thinking about joining the Mandarin.

"As you can see I have the Crimson Dynamo, Backlash and Chemistro in my employ as well as my own Black Widow on the roof-top behind you. As for the others you know that secrecy is important, Stark's eyes and ears are all around us not to mention that SHIELD would gladly intervene if they found out I was here. I can assure you though that no grudges will be carried by you or any of the others." the Mandarin reassured, "Not I need your answer now before Gold realizes that my diversions are just that."

"What diversions?" Don asked.

"The unleashing of the Rhino, the hiring of a thief armed with the Shocker's gauntlets, my assault team at the Server Farm currently engaging your friends and making a deal with Roxxon to activate the self destruct of the Black Mamba's Implant as well as sending a tip into SHIELD about the location of the New Masters of Evil to keep Gold's Avenger's out of the city*." the Mandarin gloated, "Now my time is short tell me or I order Havoc to take out the girl."

"Let her go and then I'll name my terms." Don announced, "Do it or kill me but be warned if I do die then a message gets sent straight to Avenger's Tower and then you'll be lucky to get out of New York without Songbird on you tail at the very least."

"Very well," the Mandarin sighed, "Backlash take the girl out." Backlash grinned and flicked the whip he was carrying around Joe's neck before kicking her off the balcony. "Now Mr Gill name your terms but do it quickly or Backlash will earn himself a new pair of boots."

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Biological Research Facility, Delaware Coast Line - 15:44PM, 26th of September<strong>

Tanya walked down the corridor flanked by Roxxon Security heading towards one of the building's emergency medical centre. As the group walked Tanya felt her surroundings getting colder with ever step, she was unsure why it was so cold but the immediate thought she had was sterilization, keeping an environment so frigid that most bacteria went into hibernation to avoid the cold. The men around her were also a mystery, they were not normal security, they looked and smelled dead and that made Tanya think of Brigade and she suddenly wondered if Roxxon were really going to help her at all.

"Ms Sealey we are here." Roth announced. Tanya blinked and stared at the massive metal door they had arrived at decorated with yellow warning signs announcing of a bio-hazard and flammable environment inside.

"I don't think this is the right place." Tanya said cautiously as the guards opened the door revealing a brightly lit room. Roth looked at her and made a slight hand movement gesturing for Tanya to walk inside. Their was a sickly reek, the same smell that Tanya had smelt on the guards and she swore that something was moving inside, shadow like darting from point to point. As she backed up Tanya felt a boot impact with her back knocking her into the room as the doors closed behind her. "Roth what are you doing the Director said…" Tanya yelled

"The Director says many things." Roth said as he ascended an elevator to a viewing platform mounted on the side of the wall. "Ms. Gold showed an interest in our energy programme so we thought we would give you a vision of the future." he added as the shadow shape stopped and coalesced underneath the platform. "Behold a new species _Pseudomonas oleumnatalis_ a bacterial culture we have called 'The Fuel' a life-form developed and then evolved by Roxxon so that it forms swarms like the one you see before you. When fed the bacteria turns living matter into crude oil which we can harvest, tests. The larger the meal the more the Fuel creates large quantities of low grade oil something we can exploit by selling the creatures on mass. That and we plan to use it to solve the homeless problem that had been spiralling out of control."

"You monster." Tanya spat, "Your planning on feeding people to that thing."

"Their not people just human trash not worth the resources the government spends on them." Roth snarled, "Unfortunately we have yet to test the oil genesis process on human tissue, that will be rectified soon enough though."

"Melissa will find out and stop you." Tanya announced backing away from the observation platform.

"I'm afraid that Director Gold will hear that her precious Thunderbolt died on the operating table." Roth announced, "We really must thank our benefactor for paying us to damage your implant, his contributions have allowed us to push our schedule ahead by three months." Tanya glanced around the room as the Fuel advanced desperately searching for a way to fend off the living Hydrocarbon as it squirmed towards her oozing through the cracks of the tiles like a deadly black tide sparkling in the bright lights of the containment chamber.

* * *

><p><strong>Storage Complex, Brooklyn, New York - 15:49PM, 26th September<strong>

The armoured figure of the Beetle loomed out of the shadows indiscriminately blasting at Shocker, Spiderman and the South African Hit Squad, occasionally switching over from concussion blasters to either a close range flamethrower or swarms of cluster missiles, the later chewing holes through the wall. Shocker ducked and rolled into the Vault labelled Spear, the room decorated with bronze pikes and darts, just avoiding as the massive rock covered giant slammed into the Beetle before being thrown into a previously intact vault.

"Is it me or is Abe in a very bad mood?" Spiderman asked as he attempted to trap Rand in a silken net only to have the strands melted by Rhinkalas's back up acid pistol.

"That's not Abe." Shocker explained as Rand dropped from the ceiling to the ground before unleashing a spinning kick that sent both him and Spiderman sprawling to the floor. "It's a suit of armour that is hooked up to a computer suite it was meant to act as security but I guess it's become a bit worn over the years either that or Abe reprogrammed that thing to attack anyone who came in after he turned over a heroic new leaf." he suggested as he fired a blast of energy at Rand who sprung over the beam, before landing on Spiderman's shoulders and jabbing the wall crawler in the neck sending him toppling to the floor before lying there still and seemingly not breathing. Shocker fired another pulse only for that one to streak past as well as Rhinkalas was thrown down the corridor by the Beetle which lumbered past randomly firing blasters. Further down the hall their was a glow followed by a massive explosion, the blast sending the massive stone giant down the hall before filling the building with thick black chocking smoke.

"Must have been Bombshell's vault." Shocker mused as he scrabbled forward finding Spiderman and occasionally firing shots at the shapes moving in the fog. As he picked up the wall crawler there was a blue flash followed by a second sending the smoke eddying revealing a man no more then nineteen dressed in blue ballistic armor and a black trench coat armed with a pair of skeletal looking pistols, the barrels glowing blue as he swept the room. Struggling out Shocker tripped over a body who moaned, "Drakensburg is that you?" Ignoring the moan he continued to his vault where the man struggled to find the charging unit.

"Looking for this?" Shocker asked holding up the charging unit

"Give it to me." the Man yelled in a Hispanic accent, "Or face the power of Tremor."

"Tremor?" Shocker asked, "Listen kid, who do I look like?"

"Your him, we heard that you'd gone soft." Tremor snorted, "Working for SHIELD and trying to be some kind of hero."

"I was but the Honeymoon period is over." Shocker announced, "You won't get out of here without my help and together no safe would be out of reach." Tremor narrowed his eyes as Shocker extended a hand. Cautiously he shook it before he was handed the charging unit. "Stick with me kid, there are two of them on the roof." he informed as he located the steps up, before arriving on the roof to see two familiar figures.

"Well if it isn't the thief." Razorwire sneered, "The idiots downstairs must have failed, looks like Vickers will be paying us that bonus." Shocker tilted his head and watched as Tremor arrived behind him, his eyes wide and fearful. "Assassin Bug will feed on you." the red coated vampire growled leaping at Shocker as he pulled out the Spear Gun from the Spear's vault and fired, the projectile slicing through the South African's chest and sending him flailing off the edge of the building. Without reloading he fired the second projectile at Razor Wire, the massive spear impacting with his left gauntlet and slicing up through his arm, the villain cursing before collapsing, his arms quivering where he lay, his eyes ferociously glaring.

"Shocker what are you doing?" Spiderman asked as he staggered from the smoking storage facility.

"Making a choice." Shocker growled slamming an electrified fist into the wall crawler, the force sending Spiderman rolling back into the dark smoke. "Come on kid, SHIELD will be arriving soon and we're not ready to deal with them." he ordered, "At least not yet." he sneered as he and Tremor dropped off the edge to the fire escape below before heading west into the setting sun.

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #15<p>

Many Questions need answering; Has Shocker really turned his back on the Thunderbolts? Will Blizzard join the Mandarin's Crusade? And is Black Mamba the key to the fuel of the future?

* As seen in the upcoming fanon Restoration: Avengers - In Service to the Eagle


	15. Scenarios and Solutions

**Server Farm, Ten Miles West of Brookneal, Virginia - 15:52PM, 26th September**

Scorcher sliced through the base of one of the photo-voltaic panels with her fire sword, the end glowing bright white as the sound of bullets echoed around the server farm. Poking her head round the coolant stack she saw Fixer working on the strange device designed to disrupt the Living Laser and hopefully remove him from the fight. The whole process would be go a lot more smoothly if Tracer, the Laser's former victim hadn't decided to join the fight, the addled mercenary firing rounds from a pair of pistols, the bullets arching round obstacles and pursuing their targets as they tried to evade the incoming projectiles.

"Scorcher behind you." Chen roared over the shots as Tracer threw a grenade at him. Scorcher turned to see a streak of light barrelling towards her, buzzing ominously before slicing through the coolant stack showering both of them with thick foam that was now smoking and creating a grey fog that burned her skin on contact. Scorcher screamed and threw the panels away as she fired a lick of flame at the Laser, the fire simply running off the villain's surface giving his already demonic feature an even more menacing appearance. As the Laser turned away from Scorcher her skin charred he saw Fixer fire a magnetic grapple line at the panels before retracting the cable as he handed the strange weapon to Chen who pumped radiation into the exposed power cell.

"You really think that you can stop me?" the Laser snickered as he sent out wave of light that rumbled towards the Thunderbolts. Grimly Fixer took the weapon from Chen and fired, violet light streaking towards the Living Laser before the weapon drained his body down the beam into the weapon. "Okay we've got him." Fixer announced, "Now to send him on his way." He added throwing a switch on the side of the weapon causing the solar panels to glow before spewing yellow light into an orb caught between the array. Fixer then twisted the nozzle sending the orb flying up into the air, energy haemorrhaging from the ball until it faded away completely.

"Is he gone for good." Scorcher asked, smoke billowing from her hands.

"Well he is the Living Laser so I doubt it." Fixer mused, "It will be a while until he returns at the very least." He told her as Chen caught Tracer with a blast of radiation, his body sparking and hissing before his skin caught alight revealing a robotic skeleton hidden under the synthetic flesh. "Life Model Decoy?" Fixer said his voice not hiding the surprise he felt, "Rigged with sensor blockers so he appeared to be normal," He added as he walked over before ripping the LMDs head off its shoulders. "hopefully this will provide answers." He added sticking tendril like wires inside the head.

"Chen this is Harrier." A voice came over the comms. headset, "Things are not going well down here Firepower is keeping us pinned so we can't move without facing a rocket strike, let alone fight. But that's not the main problem, I'm picking up a pair of Predator UACVs heading this way and judging from their flight plan, there coming right here. I flew enough recon sorties to know that whoever the Laser and Firepower work for is cleaning house."

"Fixer can you do that on the run?" Chen asked as Scorcher dumped the remaining fuel from her flamethrower's tank in an effort to lighten the load. Fixer didn't move totally engrossed with the Tracer LMD's head. "Harrier this is Chen." Radioactive Man replied, "That's not the only problem we have down here."

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Deep Water Research Facility, Continental Shelf - 15:54PM, 26th September<strong>

Tiger Shark sped towards the surface clutching the container and the severed hand inside trying to forge what he had just agreed to do for the hideous creature in the facility below him. He was nervous he never had trusted the monster and he occasionally looked behind him to make sure the Kraken, his snaggle toothed minion or any of the mutated Roxon scientists were following him. That's why he never saw the attack coming from the surface, the fired spear slicing towards him and embedding in his flank as the Atlantean reloaded. Todd roared in equal parts anger and pain as he sped up and raced towards the shooter, mouth open, his teeth bared and ready to slice through his attacker's arm. Something moved behind him in the gloom, and Todd felt the water pressure increase, as it shot downwards, the Thunderbolt barley staying level and avoiding being sucked down.

"Hold him there." Trigger Fish ordered Carpet Shark, as the Australian continued to suck sea water into his mouth at an exceptional rate creating a vortex that had Todd trapped. Firing a few more spears, the Atlantean watched as clouds of red leaked out of Todd's body, the scent soon sure to attract real sharks. Surveying the scenario Tiger Shark let the current take him s he was sucked down, his body heading towards Carpet Shark, the Australian Mercenary engrossed in keeping him pinned he hadn't realized what was happening. He only reacted when it was too late, when Todd's foot impacted with his chin sending the Queenslander spiralling into the depths.

Peering up Todd saw Trigger Fish searching, peering through the gloom looking for his prey among the craggy ocean floor. Lining up his body Todd pushed off and thundered upwards once more, his only thought was to slam the Atlantean as hard as he could, stun him and disarm him. As he closed the Atlantean either saw him or sensed something was wrong and looked down only to see a toothy maw heading for his arm. Reacting he reached for a sonic pistol on his belt, firing a shot that should have stunned his foe, if he wasn't powered by a potent combination of rage, primal instinct and adrenaline. Todd hit Trigger Fish at a speed close to 50mph, the blow stunning the Atlantean as he fired four more wild sonic pistol rounds, the shockwaves missing his target as Tiger Shark bit through his hands, a dark red cloud staining the water as he headed for the bottom. As he fell Todd ripped the Spear Gun from his back before throwing a vicious punch to the chest sending his foe into unconsciousness long before he drifted to the bottom.

"Been a while since I tasted Atlantean flesh." He snarled as he drifted upwards, afternoon sun slicing through the water. As he got within five meters something lunged at him towards his right arm and the sample case, teeth latching onto the limb as they sawed through the muscle down to the bone. Flipping himself round Todd felt the weight of his foe and lashed out with his feet, the first blow striking skin, the second lifting Carpet Shark off his arm and propelling him down, his skin shifting from a vivid turquoise to a dark indigo before dropping out of the sunlit waters.

Breaching the surface Todd relaxed and looked at the hideous hand, its flesh rotting yet the digits appeared to be moving. "This better be worth it." Todd grunted, "Because you are the ugliest scrap of flesh I've ever seen and I've seen my fair share of scraps of flesh." he added as he spotted the Roxxon Support Vessel a few miles to the west. "The sooner I'm rid of you, the sooner I can go home." He told the hand as he submerged and headed towards the ship as quickly as he good, the sharks already closing in for the kill.

* * *

><p><strong>Apartment Building, New York - 16:01PM, 26th September<strong>

Shocker slipped into Tremor's apartment, hidden in the depths of Brooklyn, the police and SHIELD nowhere to be seen, a good omen considering the massive amount of super villain loot not to mention the mostly unconscious South African Hit-Squad that was hopefully on its way to the Raft by now. The apartment itself was very Spartan, obviously low rent an obvious sign that Tremor hadn't been in the business for very long.

"Listen kid." Shocker said, "You did alright, my guess is that Vickers's place had lot's of security but he's not the kind of guy we need on our tail. We need to make a deal to get him and his goons to stop chasing us all over New York, we'll have enough people to do that for us."

"The money I took from the safe is over there." Tremor said as he pointed to the box at the end of his mattress. Shocker opened the top and saw the crate was stuffed with hundreds of twenty dollar bills, he could tell instantly that they were counterfeit albeit ones of a high standard. Looking over he saw Tremor slot the FVEC Pistols into the charging unit, watching him like a hawk.

"Not those, Vickers's men mentioned technology, where is that?" Shocker asked.

"Can you hear something?" Tremor asked, Shocker cocked his head, it was possible he was stalling until Shocker heard a faint click, the sound of somebody getting ready to break though the door. "Get down." He yelled knocking Tremor behind the bed as the door collapsed in on itself and a hail of bullets ripped through the room, chewing holes in the external wall, a mixture of armour piercing rounds and poor workmanship and maintenance of the apartment, beams of sunlight beaming into the apartment creating a dappled mosaic over the apartment's floor. Shocker lay on the floor and watched as parts of the apartment darkened as the intruder moved towards them. The lack of voices suggested one shooter but he had to be careful. As the attacker walked past the open box Shocker leaned on his arms and fired a low energy shot sending the man staggering backwards as Shocker got to his feet and quickly disarmed him.

The intruder a dark skinned man wearing green combat shorts and a leather jacket and white tank top lashed out a knife in his hand the blade slashing through Shocker's protective suit before he received a swift punch on the jaw. Cursing in Afrikaans the intruder punched Shocker back, slamming his fist in the gut, the blow absorbed by the foam armour his target wore. Taking the advantage Shocker fired a close range blast, the shock lifting his attacker across the room before the flimsy wall slowed him down, patches of plaster crumbling all around. Dazed the man reached for his belt and found what he was looking for, Shocker saw him reach for the pin of the grenade he had retrieved and fired the blast knocking the bomb out of his hands before the South African collapsed.

Looking around Shocker saw Tremor sweating behind the bed, his face pale and his hand trembling as he looked from Shocker to the money at the end of the bed and finally to the unconscious South African Assassin. "Kid," Shocker sighed, "We have to talk."

* * *

><p><strong>River Café, New York - 16:04PM, 26th of September<strong>

Don breathed in deeply once, twice and begun to wheeze, he had a plan, hopefully Chemistro would be stupid enough to fool for it. With a final gasp Don sneezed flinging his arm backwards into Carr's gut, the enforcer staggering backwards too stunned to realize what had happened. With a single fluid movement Don had wrenched the villain's alchemy pack off and threw it at the Dynamo, the armoured woman rolling out the way just before the pack impacted with her, it's deadly contents contained. Don didn't bother to check if she the Russian was recovering he simply grabbed Backlash and heaved him back as he dropped the whip, the dangling Jo falling through the awning and onto the table underneath.

"Kill him." The Mandarin ordered as Havoc lined up a shot and fired as Don sucked under the table, the large calibre sniper bullet chewing through the wood and slashing into his ankle. As he took cover Don found the bag he had taken with him, on Melissa's insistence he had taken a five shot Freon Pistol and an retractable baton with him due to past events he was attacked. After the destruction of Thunderbolt Mansion everybody had been on edge just in case they were attacked again. As he grabbed the bag, the table above him splintered as the Crimson Dynamo slammed a fist through the wood before grabbing him and squeezing him in a massive bear hug, the sounds of ribs cracking as audible as the splintering wood had been.

"Dynamo," a voice called over the power armour wearing soldier's suit, "Get out of my way you're blocking my shot."

"Da I know, this is my kill you relict." Dynamo replied.

"Relict, your nothing but a shadow of the motherland's glory, a servant to alcoholics and mobsters. I come from a time when Russia was glorious and not a shadow of our former strength." Havoc hissed over the radio before firing a shot, the round pinging off the Dynamo's shoulder.

"You dare shoot at me Black Widow Harlot." The Dynamo boomed throwing Blizzard to the floor in front of Backlash. "You two deal with him, I will deal with Havoc's insubordination." She announced as the booster pack on the Dynamo Armour fired up before it catapulted her up to Havoc's sniper nest.

"You know somebody's bound to have heard that shot." Chemistro told Backlash as the later pulled out a length of cable from his belt. "We're not going to have enough time to kill him and get out of here before the police or worse turn up." He announced as he picked up his alchemy pack.

"What are you suggesting?" Backlash asked as he wrapped a whip around Blizzard's throat and began to choke him.

"The Survival of the Fittest." Chemistro announced shooting Backlash with his Alchemy Gun, the villain quickly turning from flesh and blood to galvanized steel as Blizzard struggled free. "You owe me." He sneered as he stalked off to the chopper. Blizzard watched as he left before using the statue of Backlash to pull himself up as the helicopter took off. Looking across town Don saw a pair of Thunder Hawk's accompanied by a pink smear race out of Avengers Tower. Behind him there a door slammed causing him to spin around ripping the baton from his bag.

"Wow you took them all out." Joe said, "You're my hero." She added walking over and pushing the baton aside.

"It was noth…" Don begun to say when Joe grabbed him and kissed him passionately, Don closed his eyes and kissed back, a scratching sensation in his throat for a few seconds before he realised that even though Chemistro and the other sans Backlash had escaped he had won here. Not only was there no casualties but he hadn't had to surrender his principles to win Joe's safety. As Joe pulled away he grinned and waved as one of the Thunder Hawk's flew past, "So you want a second date?" he asked Joe.

"What do you think?" she asked as she wrapped her arms round him watching as SHIELD personnel flooded the roof top opposite them as a crimson speck rocketed away over the ocean, fleeing as fast as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Biological Research Facility, Delaware Coast Line - 16:04PM, 26th of September<strong>

Black Mamba backed against the cold metal doors as the Fuel slithered towards her gleaming under the lights, it was hopeless their was no weapons, no way out and no way she could beat the monster that Roxxon had created. As the creature reared up, a cobra filled with darkness ready to strike she gained enough courage and plunged her fist into the blob before pulling it out, the flesh ripped off her skin. Panicking she ran weaving past the Fuel and heading to the other end and a second pair of metal blast doors.

"Of course there are limitations with all things." Roth droned, "The Fuel can't reproduce effectively, that's why we had your friend dive down to our marine facility. See we found a sample in the Gulf of Mexico, an astonishing thing, a virus that allows rapid spread of the pathogen, within minutes in some cases. The host was a creature created by Lumeal Dorcas and was originally designated Piranha. We have called the remains Specimen Z since the first test subjects became infected and developed interesting symptoms. As such the second team kept the sample locked up at least until they lost contact with us."

Tanya watched as the Fuel snaked towards her, it had no eyes or any other sensory organs yet some how it was still able to track her, if she could find out then she would have an advantage. "So your plan is to mass produce these things, turn people into fuel. I knew Roxxon was sick but now I realize how disgusting you are. Only you could turn something that was meant to save humanity into a monster." She yelled up at Roth as she patted down her legs, her hands closed on something and she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh don't worry about us, Roxxon Oil and Logistics is about to become the most profitable company in the world." Roth said, "Oh and your friend, we have something in store for him, once this specimen has been spliced with the reproductive gene from the virus we'll expose him turn him into another base unit." Roth was so fixated on his bragging that he never realized Tanya edging way from the Fuel, a case in her hand. Quickly opening it she saw that there were four road flares and a large white crystal inside, she wondered why the case of flares she had stolen from Scorcher had a rock in it but at this point, her curiosity was moot. Lighting the first she threw the road flare in the path of the Fuel as the living blob swarmed past it the sparks showered the creature setting it alight and causing it to smoke as it drew back attempting to find a way around the burning obstacle.

"Interesting." Tanya announced removing the second flare, her face looking ghoulish in the pink sparks it threw as she hurled it towards the approaching creature.

* * *

><p><strong>Server Farm, Ten Miles West of Brookneal, Virginia - 16:06PM, 26th September<strong>

Thundra grabbed the man sized armoured figure, trying to subdue the bucking, thrashing foe, liquid fire dancing around the field of solar panels, the heat causing the coolant stacks to melt spewing foam across the battle-field. With an almighty grunt Fire Power freed himself before jabbing Thundra with a wrist mounted Taser Stave, the electricity dancing across her tall frame. As she convulsed Thundra watched as Bison begun another charge, the enraged beast man slipping on the foam as Fire Power launched a salvo of mini missiles, the tiny war heads striking him as well as locking onto Harrier as he darted above the fighters showering the enemy with high energy pulse canons attached to his booster frame.

"The Mandarin wants has ordered that you burn." Fire Power announced, his voice sounding like the wind slamming a grate. "You should have fled when you had a chance." He added as Dreadknight fired a pulse with his lance the blast hitting Fire Power in the face causing parts of his armour to chip off before he returned fire with a series of pulses, the majority scything through the solar panels while a lucky few hit the Thunderbolts. Thundra snarled and rushed in lunging at Fire Power as he leapt over her before rotating and stabbing the Taser Stave in her back before blasting her at close range.

"Foolish Woman." Fire Power announced, "Now you all die, the drones are here and there's nothing you can do about it." He gloated as Dreadknight dropped the lance and pulled out a short sword. With a yell he jammed the knife into Fire Power's back, the blade slicing into his spine before the knight removed it and went for a second stab in the arm before being thrown off. "Too little, too late." Fire Power mocked, "As we speak tons of hellfire will cleanse this facility and all the pests that infest her as well."

"Funny because I can't see any Hellfire." Harrier announced as Chen arrived along with Scorcher who was dragging Fixer with her. "My guess is that you're going to the Raft." Fire Power roared into life opening fire with all he had; flamethrowers, mini missiles as well as lasers and 30mm canon rounds. Chen rolled his eyes and focused on the spot where Dreadknight had breached with his blade and fired an EMP Pulse into the gap stalling the armour's electronics and rendering Fire Power helpless.

"Not to pry but why aren't we melting under tons of hellfire?" Bison asked.

"The Predators are followers of the Machine God." Fixer announced, "I stored Tracer' memories in my chassis and convinced the Predator Drones not to fire as it would be a major heresy."

"You made me carry you all this way when you were awake?" Scorcher asked dropping Fixer on the floor.

"My body shut down," Fixer announced, "Still I'm sure either Bison or Thundra will take it from here. At least this is the only bad thing to come out of this mission and I'm sure once we're back at the tower I can get them rebooted in no time."

"No there is something else." Harrier announced, "Fire Power, Living Laser, Tracer and the Rhino were all working for the Mandarin, and I have the feeling this is not the last we've heard from them, not by a long shot."

"At least we know he's back on the grid." Fixer announced as the other Thunderbolts turned back to the edge of the farm, "Guys, guys come back I can't walk, bloody typical." He moaned as he started the reboot procedure. The next half an hour was going to be very long indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>Roxxon Biological Research Facility, Delaware Coast Line - 16:10PM, 26th of September<strong>

"No." Roth yelled as Tanya threw the third road flare at the Fuel, the living glob now strongly burning yet still single minded in its attempt to feed. "You bitch that's my life's work." He yelled from the Observation Platform.

"Well come down here and defend it then." Black Mamba said seductively as she ignited the last road flare, "Unless your afraid of it." She added provocatively. Roth growled and headed away from the platform as the Fuel wrapped a burning tongue around Tanya's arm in an attempt to slap the road flare away, but only succeeding in igniting itself.

"Let go." Tanya ordered stabbing the Fuel with the crystal from the flare box. In an instant the gem was burning as well, dark mist radiating from the Fuel and the Crystal, the fumes chocking Tanya as she let go of the crystal. Behind her Roth was also chocking as he moved through the fog a long iron bar in his hand. Reaching out Tanya grabbed him and threw him to the floor before delivering an overhead smack wit the bar causing her captor to release her as it finished vaporizing filling the entire room with smoke, the sprinklers finally kicking in as she slumped in-front of the door. "Todd." She moaned, "Todd please help me." She cried just before she passed out, the last wisps of smoke disappearing as the large metal doors opened and a tall silhouette walked in picked her up over the shoulder and carried her away.

* * *

><p><strong>Apartment Building, New York - 16:13PM, 26th September<strong>

Tremor sat on the bed shaking as Shocker handed him a beer from the surprisingly intact fridge. "Listen kid, you must be pretty smart to hack into the facility where you got these, hut your not wise, you have no experience so let me pass on something I want you to remember maybe even tell your own kids if you have any in the future."

"What's that?" Tremor asked

"You think of me as a role-model but kid I'm no hero." Shocker announced, " I screwed up my life, I have no wife, no kids, until only a few months ago I was going through the same old routine and it was getting me nowhere. That's why I think it's time for you to retire before you start, trust me you don't want to go where I've been."

"But I have debts, if I don't pay then I'm in a world of trouble." Tremor told him, "I need the gauntlets to stay alive."

"Trust me you don't." Shocker told him, "Listen I'll do a deal with you, I'll pay off your debts with the money I earn if you promise to go to school and become someone the world means."

"Deal." Tremor said shaking Shocker's hand. "Listen the technology I stole from Vickers, well I don't have it I gave it to the guy who supplied me with the gauntlets."

"What did you give him?" Shocker asked.

"Just some kind of anti-gyro system, he said it was for a project." Tremor told Shocker, "The two times I saw him he called me I only saw his eyes, they were red and glowing, I never felt so frightened in my life."

Shocker bowed his head before taking off his mask, "Listen kid go down to the library for an hour, after that SHIELD should have finished here." He ordered Tremor, the younger man nodding and heading for the door. Shocker reclined in the chair before turning to the window to see Spiderman's head sticking through the window. "Well?" he asked.

"Your plan worked," Spiderman said, "amazingly, everything from leaving the spider-tracer on the charging unit, to punching me out so he'd trust you even convincing him not to follow in your footsteps."

"I just thought W.W.S.M.D?" Shocker admitted.

"And that's villain for?" Spiderman asked.

"What Would Spiderman Do?" Shocker informed him

"You were right." Spiderman stated, "Back then, you're no hero." Shocker clenched his fists, "But some day you may just be one." Spiderman finished causing Shocker to relax, he turned to say something sarcastic but realized that Spiderman was gone. "And maybe some day everyone will realize you're one too Wall Crawler." he said softly.

* * *

><p><strong>Avengers Tower, New York City - 20:22PM, 26th September<strong>

Songbird sat in her office with Tiger Shark, Shocker, Dreadknight, Thundra and Black Mamba scattered about in a number of chairs all looking nervous. "Your actions toady should be commended and if they had been sanctioned would have been. Unfortunately FACT has decided that Shocker, Mamba and Tiger Shark should be suspended until the next review and for once I agree with you."

"But we stopped a massive oil monster and prevented it from being unleashed on the general population." Tanya argued.

"True and you disobeyed orders, luckily I was able to convince FACT that it wouldn't be worth tossing all three of you in the Raft." Melissa announced, "As for Thundra and Dreadknight, until those three are cleared for duty you will be filling in. If and when they return we will discuss your performance and place you where you can do most good. Your'e all dismissed." She added, "Unless there is anything else you want to tell me?" she asked.

"No Ma'am." Tiger Shark mumbled as the Thunderbolts left the office and headed down to their separate rooms. When she reached her bed Black Mamba collapsed onto the bed, she was exhausted and her contact with the fuel had left a rash that was growing more and more irritating. Scratching at the flesh a flake slipped off to reveal smooth crystal under the surface. "Crap," she cursed as a knock on the door sounded. "Come in." she called, as Rachel opened the door seconds later with a pile of fabric under her arm.

"Hey you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Just a rash, I've had worse." Tanya replied, "Just a rash."

"I heard about everything, your powers, being suspended and the review with FACT." Rachel sighed, "If there is anything I can do to help."

"Nah it's cool." Tanya replied, "I'll see you tomorrow guys?" she asked.

"Sure." Rachel replied, "Oh and I had an idea about how you need a new name when you get reinstated. Maybe this can help." She laid her old Diamondback costume and trick diamonds on the bed. Tanya reached out and hugged Rachel before muttering, "Thank You."

"I'll leave you to get some rest." Rachel said smiling as she left the room. Tanya watched as the door closed and looked at the crystalline patch on her arm. "I'm not okay," she whispered as she turned the light out, the gleaming patch on her arm glowing in the darkness.

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #16<p>

A Routine Search and Rescue Mission becomes something more sinister as members of the Thunderbolts mysteriously go missing


	16. Inner Circle: Thunderbolts: Night Sky

Thundra opened one eye and looked around the room she had been given by Melissa in return for working with the Thunderbolts. The room itself was barren; Thundra had no need for expensive furnishings or luxuries but something had clearly been stirring other then her. She looked around before pinpointing the sound, quietly she stalked to the door and heard the tiny knock. With a quick wrench she opened the door to see Velsing standing at the door, his mask still plastered over his face, penance for attempting to over-through his master. Grabbing the man Thundra pulled him inside and slammed him into the bed before removing a five foot long blade from behind the door and brandishing it at her team mate.

"What are you doing at my chamber door?" she asked fiercely as she levelled the tip of the blade with Velsing's throat.

"I know when the review is." Velsing hissed, "I also managed to persuade one of the Internal Affairs Agents to give me a sneak peak at the data and it doesn't look good for us."

"What do you mean?" Thundra announced, her eyes narrowing.

"Schultz and Assails are almost certainly going to be reinstated and even that idiot Sealy has gained some favour with FACT. My guess is that they will be reinstated by the end of the month and that means you and I go back to the Raft." Velsing told her. "And I for one don't want to head back to that hell hole."

"Neither do I." Thundra agreed, "But I have faith that Songbird will reward our service in some way."

"I don't, dictators don't reward their followers, especially ones as powerful as us." Velsing replied, "That's why I plan to stay on this team in any way I can. You and I could easily secure our places if we needed to."

"Are you suggesting we sabotage the others?" Thundra asked, "The men do deserve what's coming to them but I will see no harm to Juliana do you understand?" she warned Velsing.

"I do, despite what you think I would never deliberately hurt a woman I have my honour." Velsing replied, "Next mission you and I will watch Gill and Kitson and see if we can expose their flaws. I suppose I don't have to tell you not to reveal this to any of the others."

"I know how to keep secrets." Thundra growled, "Now get out of my room." she ordered pointing to the door. Velsing nodded and headed outside into the corridor before heading to his own room. Ducking inside he sat down on one of the chairs at the desk and glowered at himself in the mirror. "That was too easy." he stated removing a pen from one of the draws and pulled out a roll of paper displaying the faces of all the Thunderbolts and their handlers. With a vicious movement he crossed through Thundra and smiled. "One down…" he hissed before re-hiding the roll of paper and heading to his own bed.

Further down the corridor Tanya itched as she headed to Scorcher's room, her condition had got worse and even though she had intensively goggled magic crystal and allergic skin reactions she hadn't found anything and after two weeks, her entire left arm had been replaced by the sparkling crystal, her muscle structure visible underneath the transparent flesh. Dressed in the costume Rachel had given her she was safe from preying eyes, but in her room she hid, kept the door locked and tried to avoid the other Thunderbolts if she could. Knocking on the door Juliana appeared, her hair a mess, her green eyes staring at Tanya's cropped pink A-Line bob in a mix of envy and disgust.

"What do you want?" she moaned, "It's four thirty in the morning."

"I need to show you something." Tanya announced as Juliana relented and held the door open to reveal a room that looked as if it had been torn apart in a relentless search for something precious."

"What is it?" Juliana hissed.

"When I went to Roxxon I borrowed a few things from your room including a box of flares." Tanya admitted biting her lip, "There was a crystal in the box and I lost it."

"You lost it?" Juliana growled, "How the fuck do you loose a glowing slab of rock?"

"It burned away in some kind of weird fog." Tanya told her, "Later where I had held it I had a rash and then this appeared." she added removing the glove on her left hand and rolling up the sleeve to show her team mate the mutated arm. Juliana breathed in and then released in a sigh of amazement, the anger she had felt seconds ago was replaced by greed. "Amazing your entire arms has trans-mutated." she gasped.

"You can't tell anyone." Tanya said, "If Melissa find's out I'm off the team."

"Okay I'll keep this under wraps." Juliana stated rubbing a layer of crystal off Tanya's arm. "Maybe I can use this to find a cure." she announced holding off the penny sized ball of crystal skin.

"Thank you." Tanya sighed hugging Juliana, "You don't know how much this means to me."

"No thank you." Juliana replied staring intensely at the ball of crystal in her hand, "You don't know how glad I am you told me about this." she added closing her palm around the crystal orb. "No idea at all." she added as Tanya released her and walked out of her room. Wandering down the halls she passed Abe wandering the other way giving him a nod which he rescinded before slipping into her room. Abe looked down the hall before tapping something into his arm mounted gauntlet, seconds later the intercom crackled, "Thunderbolts this is MACH VI, Director Gold wants you up and in the briefing room in five minutes. Those of you not on active service are not required to show up." All along the corridor the sound of cursing could be heard from behind doors, Abe chuckled to himself, he might not be evil anymore but he still found what he had done amusing.

Five minutes later the Thunderbolts on active duty arrived in the briefing room looking bedraggled and annoyed. Melissa surveyed the group as Chen and Dallas filed in behind them looking more refreshed then the others, obviously none of the more villainous members had gotten much sleep. Still Melissa mused she had been on twenty hour days for the last week and a half managing five separate crisis as well as two man hunts and picking up her wedding dress.

"So where's the fire?" Bison asked as he slumped onto a chair, "No pun intended." he told Scorcher as she looked at him with hooded eyes.

"This is the Project Pegasus Facility in Wyoming." Melissa announced waving her hand over the circular holographic table. "As many of you know Project Pegasus along with being a technology development firm also acts as jail cells for those prisoners who can't be housed safely by normal prisons."

"Let me guess one of these prisoners escaped." Dreadknight summarized, "In Latvaria we simply execute our prisoners, it does solve the problem of break-outs that your American Prisons seem to face."

Melissa glared at him, "No the prisoner is still trapped in the facility, but the area was hit by a freak tornado, satellite images show that it was natural but that didn't stop it carving through half the building. As such SHIELD is scrambling a Search and Rescue Operation to access the damage. That's your fire Bison." she added.

"Are we allowed to know who's held inside encase they do escape?" Chen asked.

"No I have a list of twelve individuals currently held at Project Pegasus, but with Norman's abuse of power the Director is reluctant to give me any additional information. The convicts range from individuals such as Zzzax and the Absorbing Man up to guys like Graviton and the Missing Link. In other words they are tough all the way up to god like. In fact I believe they are currently holding Ai Apaec so I suppose I should upgrade that to actual gods." Melissa told them. "The main danger is the nuclear power plant but I'm sure you can take care of that Chen. The Zeus leaves in twenty minutes, take only what is useful for search and rescue, everything else is unnecessary baggage." she ordered as an agent knocked on the door. "What it is agent?"

"Director Gold there has been confirmed contact with Bullseye, he's asking for you personally." the agent told Melissa, "He has hostages and is threatening to kill them if you don't see him."

"No rest for the wicked." Melissa sighed, "Get me a cup of coffee and I'll meet you in communications." she ordered before turning to the Thunderbolts, "Good Luck and make me proud." she told them before heading out of the room.

The flight to the Project Pegasus building was short and quiet, nobody was in the mood for talking although Scorcher, Thundra and Dreadkight all at separate moments in the journey stated that the mission was a waste of time. As the Zeus dropped out of the cloud layer it was plain to see that the tornado might be long gone but the weather front it had been part of was still hanging around, the facility was shrouded by fog so thick that the landing lights were barley visible. Up above the occasional bolt of lightning struck illuminating the mist for a brief second before returning the landscape to a field of grey hanging at face level. Leading the Thunderbolts down Chen stopped at the perimeter of the complex closed his eyes and reached out with his powers, the nuclear power plant that kept the facility was leaking and the coolant systems were too badly damaged to cope with the escaping radiation. "Dallas the nuclear fuel is escaping in the west wing of the facility." Chen announced his voice muffled by the radiation suit he wore, in anticipation for draining the fuel. "I'm going to stop it, if you lead the others into the main building we can complete a brief sweep before moving onto the heavy lifting."

"I'll go with you." Blizzard added, "You're going to need some coolant and my suit is lead lined, plus we don't know what's running around out here; I mean it could be coyotes or a giant spider god."

"He has a point." Dallas stated surveying Blizzard's new costume, a thick blue and white suit with a face mask that gave his head a skull like quality barley visible over a hooded cape, the fabric lined with titanium designed to resist energy pulses and lead to act as a barrier against radiation. In addition he was now carrying a pair of short swords, their hilts fitted with cryogenic charges allowing the user to shoot ice from the tips. The blades had been modelled on the villain's Cold Heart's and it made Dallas feel uneasy that such fire power was in the hands of a former criminal. While Donnie had cleared his name, his encounter with the Mandarin had put all the Thunderbolts on edge despite what he told them. "Okay guys move out." she sighed activating a pair of bio-luminescent panels on her suit so the others could see her, "Stick close and remember we are here to rescue these guys not fight them." she ordered as the Thunderbolts vanished into the mist leaving Chen and Donnie behind.

"Guess we'd better get moving too." Blizzard announced as Chen strode off his body emitting a faint glow under the suit. The two men remained silent as they headed to the looming coolant tower jutting out of the fog and illuminated by faint work lights, their flickering bulbs virtually useless in the miasma. Reaching the security office the two Thunderbolts came across what seemed like a massacre, the bodies of staff and security littering the floor.

"That's strange?" Chen announced, "With the radiation leak I would expect these bodies to emit some background disturbance but it's almost as if they have been cleansed."

"Okay I'm no expert on gamma waves and radiation but even I know that isn't natural." Blizzard stated, "I'm right on that aren't I."

"You are correct." Chen said absently as he waved his hand over a body, "Their faces suggest that it was not some mere event, something entered the building and did this."

"The thing that was locked up here maybe?" Blizzard suggested as Chen walked through the field of corpses to the stair well, the footstep of the two Thunderbolts echoing as they headed to the reactor. As they reached the first landing Blizzard turned back and saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him from one of the ventilation shafts. Silently he turned and gestured to the shaft and Chen ascended the stairs, ripped off the hatch and pulled out a pair of red emergency lights.

"Overactive sense of paranoia?" Blizzard said shrugging. "Seriously I thought something was inside that vent."

"Unlikely." Chen corrected him, "The vent is far too hot for any normal person or animal to withstand." he informed Don as he pushed back past and headed towards the reactor room. "Stick close I don't want any of the boggy men to come and grab you." he joked.

"Real funny." Blizzard sniped as he followed him down, "Just remember that I can give you frost bite in places you didn't know you could get frost bite." he warned as they reached the second landing. Up-above them the red emergency lights flickered plunging the stairwell into darkness save for a descending green glow. Cutting through the darkness a pair of red eyes emerged from the depths of the vent before retracting back into the labyrinth of tunnels tracking its prey through the complex towards the reactor room.

Upon entering the armoured blast door into the reactor Chen held his hand up in a fist indicating the Blizzard should wait outside. His reasoning was that even with a lead lined suit his team mate would still be susceptible to radiation poisoning of levels inside were too high for a normal person to enter safely. Squeezing through the air-lock Chen strode into the reactor, the fuel rods were inserted into the water bath, steam radiating out as blue sparks of energy glowed from the core. Cherenkov radiation, Chen mused, he had met the Russian Physicist that the phenomena had been named after shortly before he had become the Radioactive Man. Assessing the scene he quickly figured out that all he needed to do was remove the fuel rods, and unlike most of the Thunderbolts he could easily do that be hand. Grabbing the first Fuel Rod, Chen drained the energy before lifting it up so that it locked back in its socket activating a cooling blast of Carbon Dioxide.

Blizzard looked through into the reactor, it was clear Chen didn't need him here but he wasn't ready to leave him just yet. Scanning above Chen he saw something white move across the ceiling before disappearing as Chen pulled the fifth (of eight) radiation cores into the offline position. "Chen get out of there man." Blizzard whispered looking for the intruder. As Chen leaned down to move the next rod, the figure sprung flooring him biting and scratching the Radioactive Man. Blizzard pulled open the air-lock door only for a blast of radiation to surge out of the chamber, blue energy from the Cherenkov radiation accelerated by Chen's struggles. The Geiger counter on Blizzard's arm beeped warning him of radiation overload as he froze a bubbled of thick ice as a shield from the increasing heat. As he finished a shape emerged dragging something out of the reactor before slamming the air lock closed, "Chen?" Blizzard asked as the figure stopped outside of the bubble and laughed a horrible and hissing laugh before a fist broke through the barrier and smashed Blizzard in the face sending him sprawling down into the lower control pit the smack as he fell sending him into unconsciousness.

Scorcher pulled the starter cord on the petrol generators under the Project Pegasus Facility, the rumbling wheezing power plant eventually firing and the dull glow of emergency lights drowned out by a bright glow. Dallas had decided to split the group up, Bison and Thundra had remained up top after the initial sweep, the reconnaissance revealing a dozen survivors as well as an intact prison cell, the convict inside still contained and unlikely to escape, to clear rubble while Scorcher had been paired with Dreadknight, the Latvarian strangely quiet only mumbling occasional words and even going so far to open a heavy blast door for her. He was defiantly acting out of character, Scorcher thought, or perhaps he was dropping the arrogant façade he had adopted and was showing his true nature. To be honest she didn't care about him, the other Thunderbolts or the mission, at least not at the moment as she dropped her hand into the armour's tactical case wrapping the piece of crystalline skin that she had removed from Tanya.

"We should rendezvous with the others." Dreadknight suggested, his accented voice pulling her out of her trance. "See what Vantage needs us to do next."

"Yeah right, I just need to make a stop on the way." Scorcher said the pair of them walked out of the basement and into the stair well. After climbing three flights of stairs the Thunderbolts arrived on the ground floor, pushing their way through the automatic door and into the atrium. Outside the flood lights illuminated Bison and Thundra shifting slabs of rock as Dallas checked the survivors, probably taking a report on what had happened. Turning to face the door into the facility, Scorcher saw a sign on a plastic door and walked over turning the knob and holding the door ajar, "Give me a second." she told Dreadknight as she vanished inside.

Entering the stall Scorcher locked the door and scanned the room, the people at Project Pegasus were a little paranoid but not enough to put cameras inside the toilets. Removing the piece of crystallized skin from the tactical case before dipping it in the sink bolted to the wall of the cubicle before placing it on the toilet seat before removing the welding torch she had taken with her and ignited it, mist rising off it as Scorcher breathed in deeply, fists clenched as the acrid smoke surrounded her. Seconds later she opened her palm and smiled as she saw a ball of flame dancing between her fingers. With an aggressive throw Scorcher released the ball of flame and incinerated the door of the cubicle before stepping over the liquefied plastic her hands glowing with the heat of her returning abilities. Her first thought was to lose the flamethrowers and flash-bangs she had been reliant on but decided it against it, she had made a promise and it would be easier to slip through SHIELD's defences if they didn't know she had powers.

As she walked towards the door Dreadknight retracted the endoscope camera he had poked under the door to watch Scorcher. He smiled under his mask, his curiosity had been rewarded he thought as he stowed the camera in his own tactical case, blackmail was an excellent tool when it came to the pursuit of power but he knew it could quite easily backfire on him, he would need a patsy and he knew just who to use. Scorcher pushed the door open and gave him a fake smile before they stalked out towards the working Thunderbolts.

"Yes Fixer we have survivors but only a few, once Radioactive Man and Blizzard get back from the Power Station we will start the search in earnest. I do have some good news Pegasus have a way of tracking employees in an emergency that can be activated from the control centre as well as a remote weather relay that looks like it's still intact." Vantage said into the comms. unit.

"You have green lig… to…gage. Coll…ct Sam…nd bring… th…back he…" Fixer's voice collapsed into static, Dallas tilted her head, it wasn't unusual to encounter communications jamming but not on a search and rescue mission. From the sounds of it, the disruption was on the other end of the line, just another reason to finish quickly and get home. Something was wrong with the entire picture, the Pegasus employees were flighty as if trying to avoid talking about something and while the Thunderbolts had been walking around both Scorcher and Dreadknight had complained about something grab them but the culprit was never caught or even seen although Dallas had felt the same sensation. "Okay guys I'm off to activate the tracking beacon and collect some weather samples. Bison though I'm loathed to say it, you're in charge until Chen and Blizzard arrive back or I return, keep working and keep an eye on the Pegasus employees, they know more then their telling and I'm beginning to suspect that the whole incident wasn't an accident."

"Will do boss." Bison replied as he cracked a slab of concrete with his fist as Thundra removed two large metal plates and gave Dallas a sour look as she entered the building. As she moved further away from the Thunderbolts Dallas begun to feel more and more uneasy, each step she took caused her legs to buckle, the metal plates that had cured her of the paralysis she had received after being attacked by the Crimson Cowl. As she reached the control room and pushed the damaged door open Dallas realized what the Project Pegasus employees were hiding, the operation staff had been murdered and strung up from the roof, the sight made her feel sick and she stumbled towards the console, her legs collapsing from under her. At the last moment she caught herself with her staff, looking down at the legs, the plates were insulated by remnant ionic energy that Atlas had loaned her, Norman Osborne had then added strengthening coils when the CSA had been folded into HAMMER but Dallas didn't believe either of them had been responsible for her collapse. Behind her a loud footstep betrayed that she wasn't alone and she swore under her breath.

"I warn you." she told the person behind her, "I will not hesitate to strike if you don't identify yourself."

"Hail HYDRA." the voice said, Dallas twisted to see a HYDRA agent lunging with a stun baton, the tip sparking as it was plunged into her chest, electricity sparking down her breasts and painfully arching down her legs and arms. Collapsing Dallas remained awake long enough to see something red hovering over her before she closed her eyes.

"Victory this is Hand Six." a voice disguised by an electronic masking device said, "We have the target what's the status of the others?"

"Hand Seven has the secondary target." a voice came over Hand Six's communications device. He will rendezvous with you at the exfill point and then we'll move onto the main targets."

"Roger that Victory." Hand Six announced, "Peon 11 and 12 will move the target to exfill. Do you want me to take out the remaining Thunderbolts?"

"Keep them distracted." Victory instructed as Hand Six brought up a computer screen, "I trust you can handle that?"

"Oh I have an idea." Hand Six replied as a second HYDRA agent emerged and helped the first pick up Dallas and move her out the room. Hand Six found the controls it was looking for and glanced at the prisoner shifting in its cell before tapping a command, the power to the entire building shutting down allowing the green formless creature to burn a hole out of it's cell. "That should do." Hand Six announced before it floated away after the Peon's to meet up with the others and move onto the real targets.

Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #17

What horror had Hand Six released on the Thunderbolts and more importantly will the team be able to work together without their handlers when each one of them has a secret there hiding.


	17. Inner Circle: Thunderbolts: Sparks

Bison lifted a piece of rubble off of the crushed security office and wrecked chain link fence angrily snorting as he saw the crushed guard underneath. Picking the corpse up he ran his hands over the body before finding a deep puncture wound. Bison knew he wasn't the smartest person in the world but as he removed the hunk of lead from the guard's body he instinctively knew that the man had been shot shortly before he had been crushed, something that a normal tornado was unable to do.

"Thundra any word from Dallas or Chen?" he asked.

"None." She replied bitterly.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place." Bison told her as Dreadknight and Scorcher walked over. "Somebody shot this man." He gestured at the corpse he was holding, "I think what happened here wasn't an accident."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Dreadknight asked, his voice hiding his excitement that only fifteen minutes after being put in charge, Bison was unsure of what to do.

"I say we find Dallas, we know where she is and then head over to the power plant and meet up with the others before we all get the hell out of here in the Zeus." Bison suggested, "Then we come back with combat gear as well as a armed retrieval team and scan this place for clues of what happened here."

"Sounds like a solid plan." Scorcher admitted as Dreadknight bowed his head, secretly furious that Bison had chosen a responsible plan that covered all the bases. No doubt SHIELD would be happy with his actions, not that it would come to that if Velsing could help it.

"You know fortune favours the bold." He stated, "SHIELD might reward us for capturing whoever did this if they are still here. What with the review coming up, we want to look as good as we can."

"Loathed as I am to admit it." Thundra announced picking up on the mention of the review, "He is right, the Director told us to make her proud, she would expect action from her Thunderbolts." Bison looked over at Scorcher who gave him a shake of her head.

"Dallas left me in charge." He growled, "I say we stick with my plan. Thundra take the Project Pegasus Staff to the Zeus and tell them to stay there, the pilots are not to take off until we are all on board." He added, "We'll wait here for you before heading inside."

"Yes boss." Thundra snarled as she walked past Dreadknight nudging him as she went past, the blow knocking the Latvarian to the floor as she moved off cursing in an unknown tongue before gesturing first to the scientists and then to the Zeus, the weary employees following her instructions before flocking away from the facility to the shuttle.

"That seem strange to you?" Scorcher asked Dreadknight, "It's like they are terrified of their own work place."

"Could just be Thundra, she is pretty intimidating." Dreadknight replied as Thundra returned wielding a three foot long iron bar. "It is done." She spat.

"Good everyone stay together." Bison ordered, "We know that Pegasus were holding the super villain known as Bio Hazard but there is a good chance they had something else here as well, something they didn't tell SHIELD."

"Or perhaps they did," Dreadknight mused removing a palm top computer from his belt as the Thunderbolts headed inside and quickly typed something in before pressing the upload icon before closing the computer and slipping it back onto his belt, "and Melissa never told us." He finished leering under his mask at the thought of the chaos that he had just unleashed.

Blizzard opened his eyes, the room spiralling in-front of him, the only light coming from residual radiation sparks. Moaning as he got to is feet he checked the Geiger counter and saw that radiation levels had receded while he'd been unconscious and that the reactor had been off lined. Scanning the room Blizzard noticed a speck of light different to the others, a liquid green rather then the blue sparks, he didn't touch it, he had a horrible feeling that it was Chen's blood and that the trail heading out of the reactor would lead him to their attacker. Tapping his communications unit he noticed that the radiation surge had off-lined all his electronic devices and that even the automatic safeties on his Freon blasters had frozen despite being hardened against EMP strikes, only the sensor array on is wrist was functioning and they all said he was alive and alone.

"Looks like I'm doing this by myself." He mused removing one of the swords from his back. The Freon canister was locked but at the very least he had a sharp edge to defend himself if he was attacked again. Following the glowing trail Don made good time, reaching a loading centre where raised voices could be heard.

"Victory this is Hand 7 both targets secured." The first voice hissed, judging from the volume, the abductor was behind one of the crates that were scatted around the area.

"Hand 6 I'm sending you and your peons to a new location." A second voice said, its tones distorted and warped.

"Co-ordinates received Victory, all ands and peons on the move." a third voice announced as Blizzard stalked around the edge of the box. As he poked his head round their was a bright red flash and all the Hands and Peons were gone leaving Blizzard to stumble blindly through the jumble of crates and barrels smashing his head against every single one until he stumbled into one of the nearby buildings and collapsed into a chair in front a suite of computers, each flashing images from the security cameras inside the main Project Pegasus building. Straining his eyes Blizzard saw Bison leading the Thunderbolts up the stair well to the third floor as something large and green slid down towards them.

"Control Room is through those doors and along the corridor." Bison told the others as he stared at the map etched on the wall. "Hopefully Dallas is just having computer problems and that's it." He added as he attempted to pull the lock to the open position, the metal bolt refusing to budge. "It's stuck." He sorted as he continued to pull on the bolt's handle.

"Weak Leadership equals weak power." Thundra announced pushing Bison out the way and seizing the lock in both hands and wrenching it, the bolt still stalled in the close position. Several choice curse words and violent tugs and the door was still closed, unwilling to open for anyone.

"You two give up." Scorcher said pulling out a rivet gun from her utility belt before firing a projectile at the door, the rivet sticking to the bar unflinching and unyielding. "The door is magnetized." Scorcher explained, "A massive amount of force beyond what we can muster will get us through here. It would easier to go around and try the other staircase, see if that's jammed as well."

"Right," Bison agreed, "Everyone down one floor and across to the other set of stairs." He ordered as he led the Thunderbolts down to the next landing. With an aggressive shoulder barge the door to the second floor crumbled and Bison smiled, it seemed like only one door was magnetically locked, if that was the case they should reach the control room in minutes and be out of the area before dawn. Looking back into the stair case he swore he saw something move and he turned back. "Dallas, Dallas is that you?" he called. There was no answer, nothing else moved and Bison shook his head, it was obvious his mind was playing tricks on him.

Further up the stairs Bio-Hazard flinched, it had heard somebody calling but it no longer understood human speech, the words as meaningless as white noise. As the sound died down the monster begun to move, its form flowing down the stairs not making a sound that would betray its movements as it advanced on the Thunderbolts. It had spent the last quarter of an hour searching the facility for its former captors, revenge pushing it's dim intelligence to it's limits, as far as it was concerned they were responsible for the 'torture' and pain it felt and thus needed to be destroyed.

With a violent push Thundra smashed through the blast door to the control room, revealing a glittering and beeping heart, various messages of distress and half finished reports dancing from screen to screen all vying for the administrator's attention. Walking inside Thundra felt something tap against her head and looked up, there were seven people hung from the rafters by their necks. "My god." She whispered checking the faces of the three women left strung up as the other Thunderbolts walked in

"Is Dallas?" Scorcher asked looking from body to body.

"No I don't know these women." Thundra announced ripping one of the bodies off the makeshift rope used to string them up.

"Cut them down." Bison ordered the others as he pulled an old man, his neck broken off the noose he had been hung from. Further down Scorcher was arranging the bodies before looking around as if she was up to no good. "Juliana what is it?" he asked.

"I think we should cremate the bodies." Scorcher told him her voice cracking with emotion as Thundra removed the last body from the rafters. "We don't know if they were infected with something."

"No." Bison told her, "We cover them up and leave them for when we return, let Hazmat check them out before we light up. Go find some blankets or something, regardless of who they are or what they did they deserve some respect." He added looking around at the Thunderbolts.

"So where's Dallas?" Dreadknight asked as he flicked through the files on one of the computers. Of all the Thunderbolts present he was the only one not to help remove the bodies, something that made Bison feel sick to his stomach.

"I don't know." He admitted, he felt foolish, Dallas was probably looking for them outside as they were searching for her, all it would take was for the two parties to use different stair wells and they could pass each other without even knowing.

"Check this out." Dreadknight announced as he opened a link, "Pegasus's last transmission before the 'accident'." He sneered clicking the play button on the computer command bar.

"Director this is the Project Manager of Facility 0349 we are ready for Operation Storm Crow, all we need is the targets and the objective will be completed in a few hours." A male computerized voice read, the mechanical tones adding a feeling of dread in the Thunderbolts as they watched the next five lines of text float to the surface of the screen letter by letter.

"Good 0349 the units for disposal will be arriving soon under the pretence that this is a search and rescue mission, once arrived the handlers will bail and your asset will take care of the rest. If the worst is to happen then activate the safeguards and flood the facility, there must be no survivors, no witness and no evidence. Director Gold out." The second, more female voice finished before the computer screen went blank.

"I knew something about this mission seemed wrong." Thundra stated, "Now we know why she sent us out here."

"Hold your horses." Scorcher announced, "I am not the most trusting person but I don't see any reason to bolt, for all we know the information could be fabricated."

"Or it could be authentic." Dreadknight replied. "What do you think boss?" he asked Bison.

"I think we cut and run, take the evidence back to Melissa and confront her about this." Bison told them, "Something reeks and it isn't the busted plumbing."

"What about Don?" Scorcher asked, "He went with Chen and we never heard from him since then."

"Try and raise him on comms." Bison ordered, "We'll head back to the Zeus and wait, if there is no sign of him within fifteen minutes we leave without him."

"Start without me." Dreadknight asked, "I'm going to download the evidence and meet you back at the shuttle." The others nodded and left the room as Dreadknight brought up several screens with commands relating to the system. Moving the cursor from the download option he clicked on purge and watched as the Project Pegasus computers deleted the data he had uploaded earlier. "Too easy." He said smirking as he grabbed his gear and headed after the fleeing Thunderbolts. Blizzard cursed as he watched Dreadknight retreat, he knew what he had to do in order to protect the other Thunderbolts, quickly he typed something in and pressed send before noting Biohazard's position and that of the Zeus, it would be a lose shave to see who reached the shuttle first but it was defiantly a race he needed to win.

"Thanks for waiting." Dreadknight told the others as he caught with them in the atrium of the building. "Let's get to the shuttle and leave this crap heap before." He stopped and saw what the others were watching, silhouetted in the entrance was the gelatinous form of Biohazard, blackened tracks leading to the creature betraying where he had come from. With a gurgling roar the creature fired, globs of sludge impacting with the back wall and chewing holes in them but missing the Thunderbolts as they scattered.

"It's between us and the Zeus." Thundra analyzed picking up the remains of a heavy lab table and swinging it at Biohazard showering the creature with debris, their impact causing his skin to bubble and hiss. "We must dispatch the wretched thing before we can escape."

"Too bad Melissa didn't let us bring weapons with us." Dreadknight announced sarcastically as he removed a coffee mug from a second desk and launched it at Biohazard, the china projectile splitting and cracking even before it struck its target.

"We don't need to kill it we just need to contain it." Scorcher announced firing up her welding torch, "Bison grab those fire extinguishers see if the foam inside can slow it down while I make an insertion." Bison roared at Biohazard, the globular monster turning to focus on him as he ripped the first extinguisher off the wall with a lump of masonry still attached and threw it at his foe, the pressurized canister striking his arm and causing the foam inside to boil as toxic fumes filled the room triggering a fire alarm to add it's high pitched scream to the clamour of battle. Scorcher leapt in and slashed with the welding torch, slicing a cavity in the toxic creature's chest before inserting a canister and pulling the trigger. Biohazard looked down and screamed as his chest crystallized under a layer of blackened glass.

Scorcher turned to face the other Thunderbolts, "Area of Denial Grenade." She lectured, "I never leave home without them." She added not noticing Biohazard's arms and head leaking past the trapped chest and ooze around her before suddenly snapping shut imprisoning her in a toxic tomb. "Scorcher." Bison yelled as Biohazard formed into a rolling column of sludge and headed towards them.

"Enough." Thundra roared "You will release her now." She added charging in slashing with the makeshift cudgel only for Biohazard to slip to one side and let her pass, the massive Femizon slashing the frozen part of the monster's body and letting the green sludge trapped under the glass drip out. The original half of Biohazard chuckled a deep wet sounding laugh until his form begun to steam and the mocking cackle became a scream of fear as his whole body caught alight and he was vaporized in a toxic cloud revealing Scorcher, her armour partially melted standing in a green puddle. "Palm mounted Flamethrowers." She wheezed as Bison helped her out of the toxic pool and onto a chair. It was a lie but in the heat of battle nobody seemed to have noticed and it had felt good to be using her powers again and not the flamethrowers and grenades she had become reliant on.

"A little help here." Thundra snarled as she slashed at the remainder of Biohazard while trying to avoid the living puddle of slime that was flowing around her feet as it charred a trail of ash along the brown layer of dust.

"I've got this." Dreadknight told the others removing a pistol from a leg holster.

"You had a gun all this time and you didn't use it." Thundra snapped as the last piece of her makeshift weapon snapped.

"It's an Active Denial Pistol, it uses low level microwaves to stun rioters." Dreadknight explained taking aim at the reforming Biohazard. Pulling the trigger he fired, the blast of radiation impacting with Biohazard and causing his right arm to pop and swell showering the room with green sludge.

"Fire it again." Thundra announced as Biohazard angrily grabbed her by the leg and slammed her against the floor.

"One charge only." Dreadknight explained throwing the pistol away as tendrils of biological sludge snaked across the room attempting to drag the Thunderbolts closer to the main body. "I only hopped that it worked."

"What worked?" Bison asked as Scorcher jumped off the chair and away from the snake like blob that had been melting the piece of furniture's legs.

Increased Radiation Levels." A computerized voice announced, "Activating decontamination protocols." Almost immediately after the announcement had finished the sprinklers activated the water soaking Biohazard and causing him to drip until his form collapsed leaving nothing but a stinking dark green puddle.

"Told you." Dreadknight announced smugly as the puddle flooded the entire room leaving the Thunderbolts standing in inch deep stagnant waste water. Occasionally the puddle shuddered as the Thunderbolts moved but they paid no attention to it as they headed to the exit. The puddle suddenly let out a massive groan and quaked before two…five…ten miniature Biohazards erupted from the sludge all flinging toxic waste balls at the Thunderbolts.

"You were saying." Scorcher replied, "Crap my Flamethrowers are dry and I didn't back any more grenades." She cursed firing up the welding torch, silently preying that the tiny flame would prove as effective as it had last time.

"Maybe heat's not the answer." A voice said and the Biohazards turned, a figure standing at the mouth of the atrium silhouetted by the raising sun. With a violent stab Blizzard plunged the pair of sword's into the toxic mess and watched as ice crawled and climbed up the Biohazard's freezing them in their tracks. "Just like last time I was with the Thunderbolts." He mused as the rest of the team pulled themselves out of the ice and slipped across to the exit.

"Don man you made it." Bison said happily giving Blizzard a massive bear hug.

"We were so worried." Scorcher added dropping her usual cool composure and opting for a hug, "About I you had been hurt or worse."

"A little bruised but I'm okay." Blizzard admitted as Thundra came over towering above him. "I don't usually say this to a man," she said, "but thank you for defeating that creature." she added placing a hand on Don's shoulder.

"Not the first time Biohazard and I have tangled but hopefully the last." Blizzard announced, "Come on Bram join the hug." He told Dreadknight as he walked past the other Thunderbolts.

"Am I the only person who remembers whose fault this is?" Dreadknight hissed, "Melissa, Chen and Dallas brought us here to die."

"That's preposterous." Blizzard announced, "Melissa isn't that cutthroat and besides that doesn't explain why somebody abducted Chen and I presume since she's not here Dallas as well."

"Abducted?" Scorcher asked, "Do you know who or what took them?"

"No I didn't get a good look but I'm guessing they were the same people who released Biohazard from his stasis cell and sent him after us."

"How do we know that these abductions are real?" Dreadknight asked

"Check your tablet, I sent you something while you were in the control room." Blizzard replied his voice mostly even but also containing a hint of malice. Dreadknight opened his palmtop and saw the message before clicking a few keys. "He's right four people teleported out of her with two unconscious bodies, I'll see if I can locate where they ended up but it might take a while."

"You have an entire flight back to New York." Bison told him, "We are finished here, once we get in the Zeus we'll tell Melissa or Abe about Dallas and Chen and get them to send a Hazmat Retrieval team to deal with slimy, then we go and find who took our team mates and make them wish they never even heard of the Thunderbolts."

"Now that's an order I can follow." Thundra stated as she followed Bison out of the Atrium along with Scorcher leaving Dreadknight and Blizzard behind.

"Read it." Blizzard announced threateningly pulling his swords out of the ice. "Read it out loud to me." he added pressing the tip of his sword against Dreadknight's throat.

"I know what you did." Dreadknight read not looking at the sword or Blizzard.

"That's right, what ever the hell you're up to stop it. Melissa, Abe, Chen and Dallas, hell everyone else on this team is a friend, and if you mess with them you'll be dealing with an early frost do you understand." Blizzard threatened.

"I understand." Dreadknight announced, his voice showing no emotion. Blizzard removed the sword from his throat. "Now get moving." He ordered. Dreadknight nodded and walked towards the Zeus flicking through files on his palm top before finding the one he wanted. "I was going to blame Bison for this but you forced my hand Blizzard. For you see in Latvaria our winter comes earlier and colder then you could imagine but our summers burn so hotly that the frost melts in seconds." He snarled as he pressed pause on the footage he was playing, the image of Scorcher's hands burning as she used her powers frozen on the screen.

As the Thunderbolts reached the Zeus they found one of the pilots standing outside his hand wrapped around his nanite control remote. "Where's Radioactive Man and Vantage?" he asked

"They have been abducted, we need to get back to the tower now." Blizzard explained.

"Command this is Orphne One we have two more reported abductions over."

"Two more?" Bison asked, "Who else is missing?"

"The Director and Deputy Director were both kidnapped by unknown forces as have Captain America, Atlas and we think the Fixer, we only found his Techno shell his programming was missing." Orphne One told the Thunderbolts, "I have orders to put you into protective custody."

"You really want to do that?" Thundra asked crossing her arms.

"No Ma'am." Orphne replied.

"Good then get us to Avengers Tower the search teams will need all the help they can get." Blizzard announced as he glared at Dreadknight before boarding the Zeus and closing the back ramp, the ruins of Project Pegasus left alone, like a defeated sentinal of science, under the rising autum sun.

* * *

><p>Next Issue - Thunderbolts - #18<p>

Bison finds himself facing a long defeated enemy in what quickly becomes' 'The Most Dangerous Game'

However because of potential spoilers I will be taking a break and reaching the Inner Circle event in all the Restoration Era Fanon Stories to prevent ruining the fate of one of the Thunderbolts.


End file.
